Method, apparatus, and system for establishing cooperative communication

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method that includes receiving, by supporting user equipment UE, a pairing request message sent by a network side; and acquiring, by the supporting UE, a friend UE short-distance identifier list when self supporting capability information of the supporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports a friend UE. The method also includes performing, by the supporting UE, identity authentication on the benefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier list and a short-distance identifier of a benefitted UE that is carried in the pairing request message. The method also includes performing, by the supporting UE, pairing processing with the benefitted UE, and sending a pairing response message to the network side, if the benefitted UE has been authenticated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/192,650, filed on Jun. 24, 2016, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2013/090457, filed on Dec. 25, 2013.The disclosures of the aforementioned applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the communications field, and inparticular embodiments, to a method, an apparatus, and a system forestablishing cooperative communication.

BACKGROUND

With rapid development of mobile communications technologies, there isan increasing focus on a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunications technology. In the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunications technology, because D2D (device to device) communicationstechnology may be used to implement communication between terminals, itbecomes possible that UEs (user equipment) support each other, so thatdata to be sent by a base station to UE may be first sent to another UE(that is, supporting UE, S-UE) near the UE, and is then forwarded tofinal target UE (that is, benefitted UE, B-UE) by using a short-rangecommunications technology between UEs. In this way, in short-rangecommunication between the UEs, UE having an optimal channel conditionmay be selected to send data, and therefore, by using a multiuserdiversity scheduling gain, a customer edge rate may be increased andefficiency of spectral utilization may be increased.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communications technologyincludes two parts: device discovery of B-UE and MUCC (multiple userequipment cooperative communications technology) pairing. In a processof device discovery of B-UE, the B-UE discovers that another UE iswithin a short-distance range of the B-UE, and discovered UE listinformation within the short-distance range is registered in ashort-distance device list, corresponding to the B-UE, in ashort-distance service server. When the B-UE runs an application thatsupports short-distance discovery, the short-distance device listcorresponding to the B-UE may be acquired from the short-distanceservice server. The B-UE sends, to the base station, the acquiredshort-distance device list corresponding to the B-UE. In a process ofMUCC pairing, the base station acquires channel quality of acommunication link between UEs served by the base station and the basestation, further acquires channel quality of a communication linkbetween the B-UE and S-UEs of the B-UE, and determines S-UE, wherechannel quality of a communication link between the B-UE and the S-UEand channel quality of a communication link between the S-UE and thebase station are better than channel quality of a direct communicationlink between the B-UE and the base station, so as to complete a processof pairing.

In the cooperative communications technology, because data needs to betransmitted between the S-UE and the B-UE, if the S-UE is anyshort-distance UE in the short-distance device list of the B-UE, if theS-UE and the B-UE are not related to each other, data transmitted by thebase station to the B-UE is acquired by the S-UE, which impairs securityof data transmission of the B-UE, and further impairs user experience ofthe S-UE and the B-UE.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus, anda system for establishing cooperative communication, so as to improvesecurity of data transmission of UE, and improve user experience of theUE.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the following technical solutionsare adopted in the embodiments of the present invention.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for establishing cooperative communication. The methodincludes receiving, by supporting user equipment UE, a pairing requestmessage sent by a network side, where the pairing request messagecarries a short-distance identifier of benefitted UE. The method alsoincludes, when self supporting capability information of the supportingUE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE, acquiring,by the supporting UE, a friend UE short-distance identifier list, wherethe friend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that is served by thesupporting UE and that is related to the supporting UE. The method alsoincludes performing, by the supporting UE, identity authentication onthe benefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifierlist and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE that iscarried in the pairing request message. The method also includes, if thebenefitted UE has been authenticated, performing, by the supporting UE,pairing processing with the benefitted UE, and sending a pairingresponse message to the network side.

In an implementation of the first aspect, the acquiring, by thesupporting UE, a friend UE short-distance identifier list includes:sending, by the supporting UE, a friend UE short-distance identifierlist request message to a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication mobile broadband control server (MUCC MBB Control Server),where the friend UE short-distance identifier list request messagecarries a short-distance identifier of the supporting UE; and receiving,by the supporting UE, a friend UE short-distance identifier listresponse message sent by the MUCC MBB Control Server, where the friendUE short-distance identifier list response message carries the friend UEshort-distance identifier list.

In an implementation of the first aspect, after the receiving, bysupporting UE, a pairing request message sent by a network side, whenthe self supporting capability information of the supporting UEindicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE, before theacquiring, by the supporting UE, a friend UE short-distance identifierlist of the supporting UE, the method further includes: determining, bythe supporting UE, whether the supporting UE provides a supportingservice; and when the self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE,the acquiring, by the supporting UE, a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list of the supporting UE includes: in a case in which thesupporting UE determines that the supporting UE provides a supportingservice, when the self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE,acquiring, by the supporting UE, the friend UE short-distance identifierlist of the supporting UE.

In an implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes:in a case in which the supporting UE determines that the supporting UEdoes not provide a supporting service, sending a pairing failureresponse message to the network side.

In an implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes:when the self supporting capability information of the supporting UEindicates that the supporting UE supports all UEs, performing, by thesupporting UE, pairing processing with the benefitted UE, and sendingthe pairing response message to the network side.

In an implementation of the first aspect, the pairing response messageincludes: a pairing establishment response message or the pairingfailure response message.

In an implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes:if the benefitted UE has not been authenticated, sending, by thesupporting UE, the pairing failure response message to the network side.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for establishing cooperative communication. The methodincludes acquiring, by benefitted UE, a first short-distance identifierlist, where the first short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE is used to record short-distance identifier information of UE thatprovides a service to the benefitted UE. The method also includes, whenself benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE indicatesthat the benefitted UE allows only friend UE of the benefitted UE toprovide support, acquiring, by the benefitted UE, a friend UEshort-distance identifier list, where the friend UE short-distanceidentifier list is used to record short-distance identifier informationof UE related to the benefitted UE. The method also includesdetermining, by the benefitted UE, a first friend supporting UE list ofthe benefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier list,where the first friend supporting UE list of the benefited UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UE ofthe benefited UE, and the short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE is short-distance identifier information that is inthe first short-distance identifier list and that is the same as theshort-distance identifier information recorded in the friend UEshort-distance identifier list. The method also includes sending, by thebenefitted UE, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message carrying first information to a networkside, where the first information includes the first friend supportingUE list of the benefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE. The method also includes receiving, by the benefitted UE,a multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message sent by the network side.

In an implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes:when the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support,sending, by the benefitted UE, a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carrying second informationto the network side, where the second information includes the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE and theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the second aspect, the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message includes: anestablishment success response message or an establishment failureresponse message.

In an implementation of the second aspect, the short-distance identifierinformation of the UE is further used to identify whether the UEprovides a supporting service; after the acquiring, by benefitted UE, afirst short-distance identifier list, and before the determining, by thebenefitted UE, a first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE inthe first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE accordingto the friend UE short-distance identifier list, the method furtherincludes: determining, in the first short-distance identifier list bythe benefitted UE according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the first short-distance identifier list,short-distance identifier information identifying that a supportingservice is provided; and the determining, by the benefitted UE, a firstfriend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefited UE according to thefriend UE short-distance identifier list includes: determining, by thebenefitted UE, the first friend supporting UE list of the benefited UEaccording to the friend UE short-distance identifier list and theshort-distance identifier information, in which a supporting service isprovided, in the first short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for establishing cooperative communication. The methodincludes receiving, by a network side, a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message sent bybenefitted UE, where the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries first information orsecond information, the first information includes a first friendsupporting UE list of the benefited UE and a short-distance identifierof the benefitted UE, and the second information includes a firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE and theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The method alsoincludes, when the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message carries the first information, sending, bythe network side according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE,a pairing request message to friend supporting UE corresponding to eachpiece of short-distance identifier information in the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE, where the pairing requestmessage carries the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE; orwhen the multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries the second information, sending, by the networkside according to each piece of short-distance identifier information inthe first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, a pairingrequest message to supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, where the pairing request messagecarries the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The methodalso includes receiving, by the network side, a pairing response messagesent by supporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information in the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE or a first short-distance list, and sending a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment response messageto the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the third aspect, the pairing response messageincludes: a pairing establishment response message or a pairing failureresponse message; and the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message includes: an establishmentsuccess response message or an establishment failure response message.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for establishing cooperative communication. The methodalso includes receiving, by a base station, a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message sent bybenefitted UE, where the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries a short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE. The method also includes sending, bythe base station, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message to a first server, where the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication request messagecarries a first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE,self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE, and theshort-distance identifier of the benefited UE, the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE is used to record short-distanceidentifier information of UE that provides a service to the benefittedUE, the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE isinformation used to indicate whether only friend UE provides support tothe benefitted UE. The method also includes receiving, by the basestation, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message sent by the first server, where themultiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries a supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE, and the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist is used to record short-distance identifier information of UE thatis determined by the first server and that provides a service to thebenefitted UE. The method also includes sending, by the base station, apairing request message to first supporting UE according to thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list, where the first supportingUE is UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist, and the pairing request message carries the short-distanceidentifier of the benefited UE, so that the first supporting UEdetermines, according to the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE, whether the first supporting UE performs pairing with the benefittedUE. The method also includes receiving, by the base station, a pairingresponse message sent by the first supporting UE, and sending a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment response messageto the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the fourth aspect, before the receiving, by abase station, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message sent by benefitted UE, the method furtherincludes: acquiring, by the base station, an information report of UE,where the information report of the UE carries a first short-distanceidentifier list of the UE, a short-distance identifier of the UE, andself capability information of the UE, the self capability informationof the UE includes self supporting capability information of the UE andself benefitted capability information of the UE, the self supportingcapability information of the UE is used to indicate whether the UEsupports only friend UE, the self benefitted capability information ofthe UE is used to indicate whether only friend UE provides support tothe UE, and the UE is UE that performs communication with the basestation, and includes: the benefitted UE and the first supporting UE.

In an implementation of the fourth aspect, before the sending, by thebase station, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message to a first server, the method furtherincludes: acquiring, by the base station, link quality informationbetween UE served by the base station and the base station; andupdating, by the base station, the first short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE according to the acquired link quality information;and the sending, by the base station, a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message to a firstserver includes: sending, by the base station to the first server, themultiple user equipment cooperative communication authentication requestmessage carrying the updated first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, andthe self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the fourth aspect, the updating, by the basestation, the first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UEaccording to the acquired link quality information includes:determining, by the base station according to the acquired link qualityinformation in UEs served by the base station, UE whose link with thebase station has quality that is less than a first threshold value; anddeleting, from the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, short-distance identifier information of the determinedUE whose link with the base station has the quality that is less thanthe first threshold value, and updating the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the fourth aspect, the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message furthercarries key information of the benefitted UE and key information ofsupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE; the pairing request message further carries the keyinformation of the benefitted UE; and the pairing response messagefurther carries key information of UE that sends the pairing responsemessage to the base station.

In an implementation of the fourth aspect, the pairing response messageincludes: a pairing establishment response message or a pairing failureresponse message; and the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message includes: an establishmentsuccess response message or an establishment failure response message.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for establishing cooperative communication. The methodincludes receiving, by a first server, a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message sent by a basestation, where the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message carries a first short-distance identifierlist of benefitted UE, self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE, and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of UE that provides supportto the benefitted UE, and the self benefitted capability information ofthe benefitted UE is used to indicate whether only friend UE providessupport to the benefitted UE. The method also includes, when the selfbenefitted capability information of the benefitted UE indicates thatthe benefitted UE allows only friend UE to provide support, acquiring,by the first server, a friend UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE, where the friend UE short-distance identifier list isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE related tothe benefited UE. The method also includes determining, by the firstserver, a first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE in thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE according tothe friend UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, wherethe first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is used torecord the short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UEof the benefitted UE; the short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE of the benefitted UE is short-distance identifierinformation that is in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefited UE and that is same as the short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE. The method also includes acquiring, by the firstserver, self supporting capability information of the friend supportingUE of the benefitted UE according to the short-distance identifierinformation of the friend supporting UE of the benefited UE, where theself supporting capability information of the friend supporting UE isused to indicate whether the friend supporting UE supports only friendUE. The method also includes determining, by the first server, asupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in thefirst friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE according to theacquired self supporting capability information of the friend supportingUE of the benefitted UE, where the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE is used to record short-distanceidentifier information of UE that is determined by the first server andthat provides a supporting service to the benefitted UE. The method alsoincludes sending, by the first server, a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message to the basestation, where the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message carries the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the determining, by thefirst server, a supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE in the first friend supporting UE list of the benefittedUE according to the acquired self supporting capability information ofthe friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE includes: if the selfsupporting capability information of the friend supporting UE that isacquired by the first server indicates that the friend supporting UEsupports only friend UE, acquiring, by the first server, a friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the friend supporting UE according tothe short-distance identifier information of the friend supporting UE;performing, by the first server, identity authentication on thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier listof the friend supporting UE and the short-distance identifier of thebenefited UE; and if the first server determines that the benefitted UEhas been authenticated, recording, by the first server, a short-distanceidentifier of the friend supporting UE to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the fifth aspect, the determining, by the firstserver, a supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE in the first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE accordingto the acquired self supporting capability information of the friendsupporting UE of the benefitted UE includes: if the self supportingcapability information of the friend supporting UE that is acquired bythe first server indicates that the friend supporting UE supports allUEs, recording, by the first server, a short-distance identifier of thefriend supporting UE to the supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefited UE.

In an implementation of the fifth aspect, the method further includes:when the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support,acquiring, by the first server, self supporting capability informationof the first UE, where the first UE is UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE; and determining, bythe first server, the supporting UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the self supporting capability information ofthe first UE.

In an implementation of the fifth aspect, the determining, by the firstserver, the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the self supporting capability information ofthe first UE includes: if the self supporting capability information,acquired by the first server, of the first UE indicates that the firstUE supports only friend UE, acquiring, by the first server, a friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the first UE according to the firstshort-distance identifier information of the first UE; performing, bythe first server, identity authentication on the benefitted UE accordingto the friend UE short-distance identifier list of the first UE and theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE; and if the first serverdetermines that the benefitted UE has been authenticated, recording, bythe first server, a short-distance identifier of the first UE to thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the fifth aspect, the determining, by the firstserver, the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the self supporting capability information ofthe first UE includes: if the self supporting capability information,acquired by the first server, of the first UE indicates that the firstUE supports all UEs, recording, by the first server, a short-distanceidentifier of the first UE to the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the fifth aspect, the short-distance identifierinformation of the UE is further used to identify whether the UEprovides a supporting service, where the UE includes: the benefitted UEand supporting UE; before the sending, by the first server, a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication response messageto the base station, the method further includes: determining, by thefirst server, in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of theUE according to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, short-distance identifier information identifying that asupporting service is provided, and updating the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the UE; and the sending, by the firstserver, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message to the base station, where the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication response messagecarries the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE includes: sending, by the first server, the multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication response message tothe base station, where the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message carries the updatedsupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the UE.

In an implementation of the fifth aspect, before the sending, by thefirst server, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message to the base station, the method furtherincludes: acquiring, by the first server, key information of thebenefitted UE and key information of supporting UE corresponding to eachpiece of short-distance identifier information in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE; and the sending, bythe first server, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message to the base station includes: sending,by the first server, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message to the base station, where the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication response messagefurther carries the key information of the benefitted UE, and the keyinformation of the supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for establishing cooperative communication. The methodalso includes sending, by benefitted UE, a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message to a basestation, where the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message carries a short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE. The method also includes receiving, by the benefitted UE,a multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message sent by the base station.

In an implementation of the sixth aspect, before the sending, bybenefitted UE, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message to the base station, the method furtherincludes: acquiring, by the benefitted UE, an information report of thebenefitted UE, where the information report of the benefited UE carriesa first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, and self capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE, the first short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE is used to record short-distance identifierinformation of UE that provides a service to the benefitted UE, the selfcapability information of the benefitted UE includes the self supportingcapability information of the benefitted UE and self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE, the self supportingcapability information of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whetherthe benefitted UE supports only friend UE, and the self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whetheronly friend UE provides support to the benefitted UE; and sending, bythe benefitted UE, the information report of the benefitted UE to thebase station.

In an implementation of the sixth aspect, the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message includes: anestablishment success response message or an establishment failureresponse message.

According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for establishing cooperative communication. The methodincludes receiving, by supporting UE, a pairing request message of abase station, where the pairing request message carries a short-distanceidentifier of benefitted UE. The method also includes performing, by thesupporting UE, pairing processing with the benefitted UE according tothe pairing request message. The method also includes sending, by thesupporting UE, a pairing response message to the base station, where thepairing response message carries a short-distance identifier of thesupporting UE.

In an implementation of the seventh aspect, before the receiving, bysupporting UE, a pairing request message of a base station, the methodfurther includes: acquiring, by the supporting UE, an information reportof the supporting UE, where the information report of the supporting UEcarries a first short-distance identifier list of the supporting UE, theshort-distance identifier of the supporting UE, and status informationof the supporting UE, the first short-distance identifier list of thesupporting UE is used to record short-distance identifier information ofUE that provides a service to the supporting UE, self capabilityinformation of the supporting UE includes self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE and self benefitted capabilityinformation of the supporting UE, the self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE is used to indicate whether thesupporting UE supports only friend UE, and the self benefittedcapability information of the supporting UE is used to indicate whetheronly friend UE provides support to the supporting UE; and sending, bythe supporting UE, the information report of the supporting UE to thebase station.

In an implementation of the seventh aspect, the pairing request messagefurther carries key information of the benefited UE; the performing, bythe supporting UE, pairing processing with the benefitted UE accordingto the pairing request message includes: performing, by the supportingUE, pairing processing with the benefitted UE according to the keyinformation of the benefitted UE; and the pairing response messagefurther carries key information of the supporting UE.

In an implementation of the seventh aspect, the pairing response messageincludes: a pairing establishment response message or a pairing failureresponse message.

According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides supporting user equipment (UE). The UE includes a receivingunit, configured to receive a pairing request message sent by a networkside, where the pairing request message carries a short-distanceidentifier of benefitted UE. The UE also includes an acquiring unit,configured to: when self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE,acquire a friend UE short-distance identifier list, where the friend UEshort-distance identifier list is used to record short-distanceidentifier information of UE that is served by the supporting UE andthat is related to the supporting UE. The UE also includes aauthentication unit, configured to perform identity authentication onthe benefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifierlist acquired by the acquiring unit and the short-distance identifier ofthe benefitted UE that is carried in the pairing request messagereceived by the receiving unit. The UE also includes a pairing unit,configured to: when the benefitted UE has been authenticated by theauthentication unit, perform pairing processing with the benefitted UE.The UE also includes a sending unit, configured to send a pairingresponse message to the network side.

In an implementation of the eighth aspect, the acquiring unit isconfigured to send a friend UE short-distance identifier list requestmessage to a multiple user equipment cooperative communication mobilebroadband control server MUCC MBB Control Server, where the friend UEshort-distance identifier list request message carries a short-distanceidentifier of the supporting UE; and receive a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list response message sent by the MUCC MBB Control Server,where the friend UE short-distance identifier list response messagecarries the friend UE short-distance identifier list.

In an implementation of the eighth aspect, the method further includes:a determining unit, configured to determine whether the supporting UEprovides a supporting service; and the acquiring unit is configured to:in a case in which the determining unit determines that the supportingUE provides a supporting service, when the self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE indicates that the supporting UEsupports only friend UE, acquire the friend UE short-distance identifierlist of the supporting UE.

In an implementation of the eighth aspect, the sending unit is furtherconfigured to: in a case in which the determining unit determines thatthe supporting UE does not provide a supporting service, send a pairingfailure response message to the network side.

In an implementation of the eighth aspect, the pairing unit is furtherconfigured to: when the self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports all UEs, performpairing processing with the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the eighth aspect, the sending unit is furtherconfigured to: when the benefitted UE has not been authenticated by theauthentication unit, send the pairing failure response message to thenetwork side.

According to a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides benefitted UE. The benefitted UE includes an acquiring unit,configured to acquire a first short-distance identifier list, where thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of UE that provides aservice to the benefitted UE. The acquiring unit is further configuredto: when self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, acquire a friend UE short-distance identifier list, where thefriend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE related to the benefittedUE. The benefitted UE also includes a determining unit, configured todetermine a first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE in thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefited UE according tothe friend UE short-distance identifier list acquired by the acquiringunit. The first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is usedto record short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UEof the benefited UE, and the short-distance identifier information ofthe friend supporting UE is short-distance identifier information thatis in the first short-distance identifier list and that is the same asthe short-distance identifier information recorded in the friend UEshort-distance identifier list. The benefitted UE also includes asending unit, configured to send a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carrying first informationto a network side, where the first information includes the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE and a short-distance identifierof the benefitted UE; and a receiving unit, configured to receive amultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment responsemessage sent by the network side.

In an implementation of the ninth aspect, the sending unit is furtherconfigured to: when the self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allows any UE to providesupport, send a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message carrying second information to the networkside, where the second information includes the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE and the short-distance identifierof the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the ninth aspect, the short-distance identifierinformation of the UE is further used to identify whether the UEprovides a supporting service; the determining unit is furtherconfigured to determine, in the first short-distance identifier listaccording to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the first short-distance identifier list acquired by theacquiring unit, short-distance identifier information identifying that asupporting service is provided; and the determining unit is configuredto determine the first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UEaccording to the friend UE short-distance identifier list and theshort-distance identifier information, in which a supporting service isprovided, in the first short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE.

According to a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides an apparatus for establishing cooperative communication. Theapparatus includes a receiving unit, configured to receive a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagesent by benefitted UE, where the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries first information orsecond information, the first information includes a first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE and a short-distance identifierof the benefitted UE, and the second information includes a firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE and theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The apparatus alsoincludes a sending unit, configured to: when the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message carries thefirst information, send, according to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information in the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE, a pairing request message to friend supporting UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier information inthe first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE, where thepairing request message carries the benefitted short-distanceidentifier; or, when the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries the secondinformation, send, according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, a pairing request message to supporting UE correspondingto each piece of short-distance identifier information in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, where the pairingrequest message carries the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE, where the receiving unit is further configured to receive a pairingresponse message sent by supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE or a first short-distance list. The sendingunit is further configured to send a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message to the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the tenth aspect, the pairing response messageincludes: a pairing establishment response message or a pairing failureresponse message; and the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message includes: an establishmentsuccess response message or an establishment failure response message.

According to an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a base station. The base station includes a receiving unit,configured to receive a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by benefitted UE, wherethe multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The base station also includes a sending unit, configured to send amultiple user equipment cooperative communication authentication requestmessage to a first server, where the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message carries a firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE, and the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, the first short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE is used to record short-distance identifierinformation of UE that provides a service to the benefitted UE, and theself benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE isinformation used to indicate whether only friend UE provides support tothe benefitted UE, where the receiving unit is further configured toreceive a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message sent by the first server, where themultiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries a supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE, and the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist is used to record short-distance identifier information of UE thatis determined by the first server and that provides a service to thebenefitted UE. The sending unit is further configured to send a pairingrequest message to first supporting UE according to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list, where the first supporting UE is UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list, and thepairing request message carries the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE, so that the first supporting UE determines, according tothe short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, whether the firstsupporting UE performs pairing with the benefitted UE. The receivingunit is further configured to receive a pairing response message sent bythe first supporting UE. The sending unit is further configured to senda multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message to the benefitted UE according to the pairing responsemessage received by the receiving unit.

In an implementation of the eleventh aspect, the base station furtherincludes: an acquiring unit, configured to acquire an information reportof UE, where the information report of the UE carries a firstshort-distance identifier list of the UE, a short-distance identifier ofthe UE, and self capability information of the UE, the self capabilityinformation of the UE includes self supporting capability information ofthe UE and self benefitted capability information of the UE, the selfsupporting capability information of the UE is used to indicate whetherthe UE supports only friend UE, the self benefitted capabilityinformation of the UE is used to indicate whether only friend UEprovides support to the UE, and the UE is UE that performs communicationwith the base station, and includes: the benefitted UE and the firstsupporting UE.

In an implementation of the eleventh aspect, the apparatus furtherincludes: an update unit, where the acquiring unit is further configuredto acquire link quality information between UE served by the basestation and the base station; the update unit is configured to updatethe first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE accordingto the link quality information acquired by the acquiring unit; and thesending unit is configured to send, to the first server, the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication request messagecarrying the updated first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, andthe self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the eleventh aspect, the update unit isconfigured to determine, according to the acquired link qualityinformation in UEs served by the base station, UE whose link with thebase station has quality that is less than a first threshold value; anddelete, from the first short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE, short-distance identifier information of the determined UE whoselink with the base station has the quality that is less than the firstthreshold value, and update the first short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the eleventh aspect, the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message furthercarries key information of the benefitted UE and key information ofsupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE; the pairing request message further carries the keyinformation of the benefitted UE; and the pairing response messagefurther carries key information of UE that sends the pairing responsemessage to the base station.

According to a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a server. The server includes a receiving unit, configured toreceive a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message sent by a base station, where themultiple user equipment cooperative communication authentication requestmessage carries a first short-distance identifier list of benefitted UE,self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE, and ashort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE is used to record short-distanceidentifier information of UE that provides support to the benefitted UE,and the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE isused to indicate whether only friend UE provides support to thebenefitted UE. The server also includes an acquiring unit, configuredto: when the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, acquire a friend UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE, where the friend short UE distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE is used to record short-distance identifier information ofUE related to the benefitted UE. The server also includes a determiningunit, configured to determine a first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE that is acquired by the acquiring unit, where thefirst friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of friend supporting UE of thebenefitted UE, and the short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE of the benefitted UE is short-distance identifierinformation that is in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and that is same as the short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE, where the acquiring unit is further configured toacquire self supporting capability information of the friend supportingUE of the benefitted UE the short-distance identifier information,determined by the determining unit, of the friend supporting UE of thebenefitted UE, where the self supporting capability information of thefriend supporting UE is used to indicate whether the friend supportingUE supports only friend UE. The determining unit is further configuredto determine a supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE in the first friend supporting UE list of the benefittedUE according to the self supporting capability information, acquired bythe acquiring unit, of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE,where the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE is used to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the first server and that provides a supporting service tothe benefitted UE. The server also includes a sending unit, configuredto send a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message to the base station, where the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication response messagecarries the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

In an implementation of the twelfth aspect, the determining unit isconfigured to: when the acquired self supporting capability informationof the friend supporting UE indicates that the friend supporting UEsupports only friend UE, acquire a friend UE short-distance identifierlist of the friend supporting UE according to the short-distanceidentifier information of the friend supporting UE; perform identityauthentication on the benefitted UE according to the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the friend supporting UE and theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE; and when it isdetermined that the benefitted UE has been authenticated, record ashort-distance identifier of the friend supporting UE to the supportingUE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the twelfth aspect, the determining unit isconfigured to: when the acquired self supporting capability informationof the friend supporting UE indicates that the friend supporting UEsupports all UEs, record a short-distance identifier of the friendsupporting UE to the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

In an implementation of the twelfth aspect, the acquiring unit isfurther configured to: when the self benefitted capability informationof the benefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allows any UE toprovide support, acquire self supporting capability information of firstUE, where the first UE is UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE; and the determiningunit is further configured to determine the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the self supportingcapability information, acquired by the acquiring unit, of the first UE.

In an implementation of the twelfth aspect, the determining unit isconfigured to: when the self supporting capability information, acquiredby the acquiring unit, of the first UE indicates that the first UEsupports only friend UE, acquire a friend UE short-distance identifierlist of the first UE according to the first short-distance identifierinformation of the first UE; perform identity authentication on thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier listof the first UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE;and when it is determined that the benefitted UE has been authenticated,record a short-distance identifier of the first UE to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the twelfth aspect, the determining unit isconfigured to: when the self supporting capability information, acquiredby the acquiring unit, of the first UE indicates that the first UEsupports all UEs, record a short-distance identifier of the first UE tothe supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

In an implementation of the twelfth aspect, the server further includes:an update unit, where the short-distance identifier information of theUE is further used to identify whether the UE provides a supportingservice; the determining unit is further configured to determine, in thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the UE according to eachpiece of short-distance identifier information recorded in thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE,short-distance identifier information identifying that a supportingservice is provided; the update unit is configured to update thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the UE according to theshort-distance identifier information, identifying that a supportingservice is provided, determined by the determining unit; and the sendingunit is configured to send the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message to the base station, wherethe multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries the updated supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the UE.

In an implementation of the twelfth aspect, the acquiring unit isfurther configured to acquire key information of the benefitted UE, andkey information of supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, and the sendingunit is configured to send the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message to the base station, wherethe multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message further carries the key information of the benefittedUE, and the key information of the supporting UE corresponding to eachpiece of short-distance identifier information in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

According to a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides benefitted UE. The benefitted UE includes a sending unit,configured to send a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message to a base station, where the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarries a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The benefittedUE also includes a receiving unit, configured to receive a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message sentby the base station.

In an implementation of the thirteenth aspect, the benefitted UE furtherincludes: an acquiring unit, configured to acquire an information reportof the benefitted UE, where the information report of the benefitted UEcarries a first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, and self capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE, the first short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE is used to record short-distance identifierinformation of UE that provides a service to the benefitted UE, the selfcapability information of the benefitted UE includes the self supportingcapability information of the benefitted UE and self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE, the self supportingcapability information of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whetherthe benefitted UE supports only friend UE, and the self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whetheronly friend UE provides support to the benefitted UE, where the sendingunit is further configured to send the information report of thebenefitted UE to the base station.

According to a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides supporting UE. The supporting UE includes a receiving unit,configured to receive a pairing request message of a base station, wherethe pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier ofbenefitted UE. The supporting UE also includes a processing unit,configured to perform pairing processing with the benefitted UEaccording to the pairing request message received by the receiving unit.The supporting UE also includes a sending unit, configured to send apairing response message to the base station, where the pairing responsemessage carries a short-distance identifier of the supporting UE.

In an implementation of the fourteenth aspect, the supporting UE furtherincludes: an acquiring unit, configured to acquire an information reportof the supporting UE, where the information report of the supporting UEcarries a first short-distance identifier list of the supporting UE, theshort-distance identifier of the supporting UE, and status informationof the supporting UE, the first short-distance identifier list of thesupporting UE is used to record short-distance identifier information ofUE that provides a service to the supporting UE, self capabilityinformation of the supporting UE includes self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE and self benefitted capabilityinformation of the supporting UE, the self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE is used to indicate whether thesupporting UE supports only friend UE, and the self benefittedcapability information of the supporting UE is used to indicate whetheronly friend UE provides support to the supporting UE, where the sendingunit is further configured to send the information report of thesupporting UE to the base station.

In an implementation of the fourteenth aspect, the pairing requestmessage further carries key information of the benefited UE; theprocessing unit is configured to perform pairing processing with thebenefitted UE according to the key information of the benefitted UE; andthe pairing response message further carries key information of thesupporting UE.

According to a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides supporting UE. The supporting UE includes a receiver,configured to receive a pairing request message sent by a network side,where the pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier ofbenefitted UE. The supporting UE also includes a processor, configuredto: when self supporting capability information of the supporting UEindicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE, acquire afriend UE short-distance identifier list, where the friend UEshort-distance identifier list is used to record short-distanceidentifier information of UE that is served by the supporting UE andthat is related to the supporting UE, where the processor is furtherconfigured to perform identity authentication on the benefitted UEaccording to the acquired friend UE short-distance identifier list andthe short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE that is carried inthe pairing request message received by the receiving unit, and theprocessor is further configured to: when the benefitted UE has beenauthenticated, perform pairing processing with the benefitted UE. Thesupporting UE also includes a sender, configured to send a pairingresponse message to the network side.

According to a sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides benefitted UE. The benefitted UE includes a processor,configured to acquire a first short-distance identifier list, where thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of UE that provides aservice to the benefitted UE. The processor is further configured to:when self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, acquire a friend UE short-distance identifier list, where thefriend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE related to the benefittedUE. The processor is further configured to determine a first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the acquired friend UEshort-distance identifier list, where the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE is used to record short-distance identifierinformation of friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE, and theshort-distance identifier information of the friend supporting UE isshort-distance identifier information that is in the firstshort-distance identifier list and that is the same as theshort-distance identifier information recorded in the friend UEshort-distance identifier list; a sender, configured to send a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarrying first information to a network side, where the firstinformation includes the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefited UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE; and areceiver, configured to receive a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message sent by the network side.

According to a seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of the presentinvention provides an apparatus for establishing cooperativecommunication. The apparatus includes a receiver, configured to receivea multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message sent by benefitted UE, where the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message carries firstinformation or second information, the first information includes afirst friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE and ashort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, and the secondinformation includes a first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.The apparatus also includes a sender, configured to: when the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarries the first information, send, according to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE, a pairing request message to friendsupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE,where the pairing request message carries the benefitted short-distanceidentifier; or, when the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries the secondinformation, send, according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, a pairing request message to supporting UE correspondingto each piece of short-distance identifier information in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, where the pairingrequest message carries the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE, where the receiver is further configured to receive a pairingresponse message sent by supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE or a first short-distance list, and send amultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment responsemessage to the benefitted UE.

According to an eighteenth aspect, an embodiment of the presentinvention provides a base station. The base station includes a receiver,configured to receive a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by benefitted UE, wherethe multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The base station also includes a sender, configured to send amultiple user equipment cooperative communication authentication requestmessage to a first server, where the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message carries a firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE, and the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, the first short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE is used to record short-distance identifierinformation of UE that provides a service to the benefitted UE, and theself benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE isinformation used to indicate whether only friend UE provides support tothe benefitted UE. The receiver is further configured to receive amultiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message sent by the first server, where the multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication response messagecarries a supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE, and the supporting UE short-distance identifier list is used torecord short-distance identifier information of UE that is determined bythe first server and that provides a service to the benefitted UE. Thesender is further configured to send a pairing request message to firstsupporting UE according to the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist, where the first supporting UE is UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list, and the pairing request message carriesthe short-distance identifier of the benefited UE, so that the firstsupporting UE determines, according to the short-distance identifier ofthe benefited UE, whether the first supporting UE performs pairing withthe benefitted UE. The receiver is further configured to receive apairing response message sent by the first supporting UE; and the senderis further configured to send a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message to the benefited UEaccording to the pairing response message received by the receiver.

According to the nineteenth aspect, an embodiment of the presentinvention provides a server. The server includes a receiver, configuredto receive a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message sent by a base station, where themultiple user equipment cooperative communication authentication requestmessage carries a first short-distance identifier list of benefitted UE,self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE, and ashort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE is used to record short-distanceidentifier information of UE that provides support to the benefitted UE,and the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE isused to indicate whether only friend UE provides support to thebenefitted UE. The server also includes a processor, configured to: whenthe self benefited capability information of the benefitted UE indicatesthat the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to provide support, acquirea friend UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UEaccording to the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, wherethe friend short UE distance identifier list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE related tothe benefitted UE, where the processor is further configured todetermine a first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE in thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE according tothe acquired friend UE short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE, where the first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of friendsupporting UE of the benefitted UE, and the short-distance identifierinformation of the friend supporting UE of the benefited UE isshort-distance identifier information that is in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefited UE and that is the sameas the short-distance identifier information recorded in the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE. The processor isfurther configured to acquire self supporting capability information ofthe friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE according to thedetermined short-distance identifier information of the friendsupporting UE of the benefitted UE, where the self supporting capabilityinformation of the friend supporting UE is used to indicate whether thefriend supporting UE supports only friend UE. The processor is furtherconfigured to determine the supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefited UE in the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE according to the acquired self supporting capabilityinformation of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE, where thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the first server and that provides a supporting service tothe benefitted UE. The server also includes a sender, configured to senda multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message to the base station, where the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message carries thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

According to a twentieth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides benefitted UE. The benefitted UE includes a sender, configuredto send a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message to a base station, where the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarries a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The benefittedUE also includes a receiver, configured to receive a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message sentby the base station.

According to a twenty-first aspect, an embodiment of the presentinvention provides supporting UE. The supporting UE also includes areceiver, configured to receive a pairing request message of a basestation, where the pairing request message carries a short-distanceidentifier of benefitted UE. The supporting UE also includes aprocessor, configured to perform pairing processing with the benefittedUE according to the received pairing request message. The supporting UEalso includes a sender, configured to send a pairing response message tothe base station, where the pairing response message carries ashort-distance identifier of the supporting UE.

According to a twenty-second aspect, an embodiment of the presentinvention provides a system for establishing cooperative communication.The system includes supporting UE, benefitted UE, and an apparatus forestablishing cooperative communication, where the supporting UE is thesupporting UE according to the foregoing embodiments, the benefitted UEis the benefitted UE according to the foregoing embodiments, and theapparatus for establishing cooperative communication is the apparatusfor establishing cooperative communication according to the foregoingembodiments.

According to a twenty-third aspect, an embodiment of the presentinvention provides a system for establishing cooperative communication.The system also includes supporting UE, benefitted UE, a base station,and a first server. The supporting UE is the supporting UE according tothe foregoing embodiments, the benefitted UE is the benefitted UEaccording to the foregoing embodiments, the base station is the basestation according to the foregoing embodiments, and the first server isthe first server according to the foregoing embodiments.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthe embodiments of the present invention, after supporting UE receives apairing request message, when self supporting capability information ofthe supporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friendUE, the supporting UE acquires a friend UE short-distance identifierlist, performs identity authentication on the benefitted UE according toa short-distance identifier of benefitted UE carried in the pairingrequest message and the friend UE short-distance identifier list, and ina case in which the benefitted UE has been authenticated, sends apairing establishment response message to a network side, so as toestablish a communication link between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE. In this way, in a process of establishing cooperativecommunication, when the self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE,the supporting UE may perform identity authentication on the benefittedUE requesting to establish a communication link, and a communicationlink can be established between the supporting UE and only thebenefitted UE that has been authenticated. Because the supporting UEperforms identity authentication on the benefitted UE, a communicationlink can be established between the supporting UE and only thebenefitted UE related to the supporting UE, so that transmission of databetween the supporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented, therebyimproving security of data transmission of UE and improving userexperience of the UE.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention or in the more clearly, the following briefly describes theaccompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or theprior art. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the followingdescription show merely some embodiments of the present invention, and aperson of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings fromthese accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a method for establishing cooperativecommunication according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another method for establishingcooperative communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another method for establishingcooperative communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another method for establishingcooperative communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another method for establishingcooperative communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another method for establishingcooperative communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another method for establishingcooperative communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another method for establishingcooperative communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another method for establishingcooperative communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic functional diagram of supporting UE according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic functional diagram of another supporting UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic functional diagram of benefitted UE according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic functional diagram of an apparatus forestablishing cooperative communication according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic functional diagram of a base station according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic functional diagram of another base stationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic functional diagram of a server according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic functional diagram of another server according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a schematic functional diagram of another benefitted UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a schematic functional diagram of another benefited UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a schematic functional diagram of another supporting UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a schematic functional diagram of another supporting UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a schematic structural diagram of supporting UE according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of benefitted UE according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus forestablishing cooperative communication according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 25 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a schematic structural diagram of a server according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a schematic structural diagram of another benefitted UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a schematic structural diagram of another supporting UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram of a system for establishing cooperativecommunication according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram of another system for establishingcooperative communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The following clearly describes the technical solutions in theembodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, thedescribed embodiments are merely some but not all of the embodiments ofthe present invention. All other embodiments obtained by a person ofordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the presentinvention without creative efforts shall fall within the protectionscope of the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 1, the methodincludes the following.

101: Supporting user equipment UE receives a pairing request messagesent by a network side.

The pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier ofbenefitted user equipment UE. The short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE may uniquely identify the benefitted UE.

In a process of establishing cooperative communication, on the networkside, the supporting UE needs to perform pairing processing on thebenefitted UE and this supporting UE. In this case, the network sideneeds to send the pairing request message carrying the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE to the supporting UE, so that thesupporting UE performs corresponding pairing processing according to theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.

102: When self supporting capability information of the supporting UEindicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE, the supportingUE acquires a friend UE short-distance identifier list.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that is served by thesupporting UE and that is related to the supporting UE. The selfsupporting capability information of the supporting UE is used toindicate whether the supporting UE supports only friend UE. The friendUE of the supporting UE refers to UE related to the supporting UE.

It should be noted that, after receiving the pairing request messagesent by the network side, the supporting UE needs to determine,according to the self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE, steps that need to be performed subsequently. When theself supporting capability information of the supporting UE indicatesthat the supporting UE supports only friend UE, it indicates that thesupporting UE can only provide support to friend UE of the supportingUE, and does not provide a supporting service to another UE. When theself supporting capability information of the supporting UE indicatesthat the supporting UE supports all UEs, it indicates that thesupporting UE may provide support to any UE.

When the self supporting capability information of the supporting UEindicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE, it indicatesthat the supporting UE can only provide support to friend UE of thesupporting UE, and after receiving the pairing request message sent bythe network side, the supporting UE needs to perform identityauthentication on the benefitted UE on which pairing needs to beperformed, so as to determine whether this benefitted UE is friend UE ofthe supporting UE. The supporting UE may acquire the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the supporting UE from an MUCC MBBControl Server (multiple user equipment cooperative communication mobilebroadband control server).

Furthermore, the supporting UE may send a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list request message to the MUCC MBB Control Server. Thefriend UE short-distance identifier list request message carries ashort-distance identifier of the supporting UE. The supporting UEreceives a friend UE short-distance identifier list response messagesent by the MUCC MBB Control Server. The friend UE short-distanceidentifier list response message carries the friend UE short-distanceidentifier list.

The supporting UE sends the friend UE short-distance identifier listrequest message carrying the short-distance identifier of the supportingUE to the MUCC MBB Control Server, so that after receiving the friend UEshort-distance identifier list request message, the MUCC MBB ControlServer searches all stored friend UE short-distance identifier listsaccording to the short-distance identifier of the supporting UE, finds afriend UE short-distance identifier list corresponding to theshort-distance identifier of the supporting UE, adds the found thefriend UE short-distance identifier list corresponding to theshort-distance identifier of the supporting UE to the friend UEshort-distance identifier list response message, and sends the friend UEshort-distance identifier list response message to the supporting UE.

It should be noted that, in all the embodiments of the presentinvention, in the MUCC MBB Control Server, a short-distance identifierof UE and a friend UE short-distance identifier list corresponding tothe UE are prestored. That is, in the MUCC MBB Control Server, a mappingrelationship between the short-distance identifier of the UE and afriend UE short-distance identifier list is stored. That is, in the MUCCMBB Control Server, information, of friend UE of the UE, in eachapplication is acquired, and according to the acquired information, ofthe friend UE of the UE, in each application, a correspondence betweenthe short-distance identifier of the UE and a short-distance identifier,of friend UE of the UE, in each application is determined.

Exemplarily, in the MUCC MBB Control Server, information, of UE offriend UE, in a QQ application is acquired, and according to theinformation, of the friend UE of the UE, in the QQ application, acorrespondence between a short-distance identifier of this UE and ashort-distance identifier, of the friend UE of the UE, in the QQapplication is determined.

Furthermore, the MUCC MBB Control Server may be deployed in ashort-distance server, or may be deployed in an application server, ormay be deployed in another device, which is not limited in the presentinvention.

103: The supporting UE performs identity authentication on thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier listand a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE that is carried inthe pairing request message.

After acquiring the friend UE short-distance identifier list of thesupporting UE, the supporting UE searches the friend UE short-distanceidentifier list of the supporting UE according to the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE that is carried in the pairing requestmessage, so as to perform identity authentication on the benefitted UE.

Furthermore, if a friend UE short-distance identifier list correspondingto the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE is not found inthe friend UE short-distance identifier lists of the supporting UE, itindicates that the benefitted UE and the supporting UE are not related,that is, the benefitted UE is not friend UE of the supporting UE, thatis, the benefitted UE has not been authenticated, and the supporting UEcannot provide support to this benefitted UE.

104: If the benefitted UE has been authenticated, the supporting UEperforms pairing processing with the benefitted UE, and sends a pairingresponse message to the network side.

The pairing response message includes: a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message.

Specifically, if a friend UE short-distance identifier listcorresponding to the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE isfound in the friend UE short-distance identifier lists of the supportingUE, it indicates that the benefitted UE is related to the supporting UE,that is, the benefitted UE is friend UE of the supporting UE, that is,the benefitted UE has been authenticated, and the supporting UE mayprovide support to this benefitted UE. Pairing is performed on thesupporting UE and this benefitted UE, and when pairing succeeds, thepairing establishment response message is sent to the network side, soas to establish a communication link between the benefitted UE and thesupporting UE, and further establish multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication with the benefitted UE. When pairing fails, the pairingfailure response message is sent to the network side, so that thenetwork side notifies the benefitted UE that this supporting UE cannotestablish a communication link to the benefitted UE.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, after supporting UE receives apairing request message, when self supporting capability information ofthe supporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friendUE, the supporting UE acquires a friend UE short-distance identifierlist, performs identity authentication on the benefitted UE according toa short-distance identifier of benefitted UE carried in the pairingrequest message and the friend UE short-distance identifier list, and ina case in which the benefitted UE has been authenticated, sends apairing establishment response message to a network side, so as toestablish a communication link between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE. In this way, in a process of establishing cooperativecommunication, when the self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE,the supporting UE may perform identity authentication on the benefittedUE requesting to establish a communication link, and a communicationlink can be established between the supporting UE and only thebenefitted UE that has been authenticated. Because the supporting UEperforms identity authentication on the benefitted UE, a communicationlink can be established between the supporting UE and only thebenefitted UE related to the supporting UE, so that transmission of databetween the supporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented, therebyimproving security of data transmission of UE and improving userexperience of the UE.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 2, the methodincludes the following.

201: Benefitted UE acquires a first short-distance identifier list.

The first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of UE that provides aservice to the benefitted UE.

The benefitted UE may acquire the first short-distance identifier listfrom a short-distance server of an MUCC MBB Control Server. A specificprocess is the same as that in the prior art, and details are describedherein.

202: When self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, the benefited UE acquires a friend UE short-distance identifierlist.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE related to the benefittedUE. The self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE isused to indicate whether only friend UE provides support to thebenefitted UE. The friend UE of the benefitted UE refers to UE relatedto the benefitted UE.

It should be noted that, after acquiring the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, the benefitted UE needs todetermine, according to the self benefitted capability information ofthe benefitted UE, steps that need to be performed subsequently. Whenthe self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, it indicates that only friend UE of a specific supportingfunction of the benefitted UE can provide support to the benefitted UE,and another non-friend UE does not provide support to the benefitted UE.When the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support, itindicates that any supporting UE may provide support to the benefittedUE.

When the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, it indicates that only friend UE, having a function ofproviding support, of the benefitted UE can provide support to thebenefitted UE, and the benefitted UE needs to determine the friend UE ofthe benefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list acquiredby the benefitted UE. The benefitted UE may acquire the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE from the MUCC MBBControl Server.

Furthermore, if the benefitted UE acquires the friend UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE from the MUCC MBB Control Server,the benefitted UE may send a friend UE short-distance identifier listrequest message to the MUCC MBB Control Server. The friend UEshort-distance identifier list request message carries a short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE. The benefitted UE receives a friend UEshort-distance identifier list response message sent by the MUCC MBBControl Server. The friend UE short-distance identifier list responsemessage carries the friend UE short-distance identifier list.

The benefitted UE sends the friend UE short-distance identifier listrequest message to the MUCC MBB Control Server, where the friend UEshort-distance identifier list request message carries theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, so that after receivingthe friend UE short-distance identifier list request message, the MUCCsearches all stored friend UE short-distance identifier lists accordingto the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, finds a friend UEshort-distance identifier list corresponding to the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, adds the found friend UE short-distanceidentifier list corresponding to the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE to the friend UE short-distance identifier list responsemessage, and sends the friend UE short-distance identifier list responsemessage to the benefitted UE.

It should be noted that, in the MUCC MBB Control Server, ashort-distance identifier of UE and a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list corresponding to the UE are prestored. That is, in theMUCC MBB Control Server, a mapping relationship between theshort-distance identifier of the UE and the corresponding friend UEshort-distance identifier list is stored.

203: The benefitted UE determines a first friend supporting UE list ofthe benefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier list.

The first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UE ofthe benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE is short-distance identifier information that is inthe first short-distance identifier list and that is the same as theshort-distance identifier information recorded in the friend UEshort-distance identifier list.

After acquiring the friend UE short-distance identifier list, thebenefitted UE performs identity authentication on each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE according to thefriend UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, that is,compares each piece of short-distance identifier information recorded inthe first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE with theshort-distance identifier information recorded in the friend UEshort-distance identifier list. Therefore, when short-distanceidentifier information that is the same as the short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list isdetermined in the first short-distance identifier list, the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE is determined.

Exemplarily, it is assumed that the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE is 001, and the short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the first short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE includes 002, 003, and 004. If the short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier listcorresponding to the benefitted UE includes 002, 003, and 005, afteracquiring the friend UE short-distance identifier list, the benefittedUE compares each piece of short-distance identifier information recordedin the first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE witheach piece of short-distance identifier information recorded in thefriend UE short-distance identifier list, and it is determined in thefirst short-distance identifier list that short-distance identifierinformation that is the same as the short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list is002 and 003, and therefore the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE may be acquired. The short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is002 and 003. It is assumed that UE corresponding to the short-distanceidentifier information 002 is UE 1, and UE corresponding to theshort-distance identifier information 003 is UE 2, and in this case,friend supporting UEs of the UE are UE 1 and UE 2.

204: The benefitted UE sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carrying first informationto a network side.

The first information includes the first friend supporting UE list ofthe benefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquely identifythe benefitted UE.

After acquiring the first friend supporting UE list, the benefitted UEadds this first friend supporting UE list and the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, as the first information, to a firstmultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment requestmessage, so that the network side may establish a communication linkbetween the benefitted UE and friend UE of the benefitted UE, andtherefore support is provided to the benefitted UE.

205: The benefitted UE receives a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message sent by the network side.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

When the multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message is the establishment success response message, themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment responsemessage carries a short-distance identifier of supporting UE that sendsa pairing establishment response message.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, after benefitted UE acquires afirst short-distance identifier list, when self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allowsonly friend UE to provide support, the benefitted UE acquires a friendUE short-distance identifier list, determines a first friend supportingUE list of the benefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier listaccording to the friend UE short-distance identifier list, and sends afirst multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carrying first information to a network side, where thefirst information includes the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. Inthis way, in a process of establishing cooperative communication, whenthe self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, the benefitted UE determines, in the first short-distanceidentifier list, friend UE that can provide support to the benefittedUE, that is, the first friend supporting UE list is acquired, and thislist is sent to the network side, so that the network side establishes acommunication link between friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE andthe benefitted UE, and implements transmission of data betweensupporting UE and the benefitted UE, thereby improving security of datatransmission of UE and improving user experience of the UE.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 3, the methodincludes the following.

301: A network side receives a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by benefited UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries first information or second information. Thefirst information includes a first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. Thesecond information includes a first short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

It should be noted that, after the network side receives the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request message,according to different information carried in the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request message, stepsto be performed subsequently are different. When the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarries the first information, perform step 302 a, and when the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarries the second information, perform step 302 b.

302 a: When the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message carries first information, the networkside sends, according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in a first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE, apairing request message to friend supporting UE corresponding to eachpiece of short-distance identifier information in the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE.

The pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE.

When receiving the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message sent by the benefitted UE, the networkside may parse out the first information, and therefore acquire thefirst friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE and theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The network side addsthe short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE to the pairingrequest message, and sends, according to short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE, the pairing request message to supporting UE that mayprovide support to the benefited UE and that corresponds to each pieceof short-distance identifier information in the first friend supportingUE list.

302 b: When the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message carries second information, the networkside sends, according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in a first short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE, the pairing request message to supporting UE corresponding to eachpiece of short-distance identifier information in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

The pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE.

When receiving the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message sent by the benefitted UE, the networkside may parse out the second information, and therefore acquire thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE and theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The network side addsthe short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE to the pairingrequest message, and sends, according to short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, the pairing request message to supporting UE that mayprovide support to the benefitted UE and that corresponds to each pieceof short-distance identifier information in the first short-distanceidentifier list.

303: The network side receives a pairing response message sent bysupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UEor a first short-distance list, and sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message to thebenefitted UE.

The pairing response message includes: a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

If it is determined that supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE or the first short-distance list may providesupport to the benefitted UE, this supporting UE sends the pairingestablishment response message to the network side. In this case, thepairing response message that is returned by this supporting UE and thatis received by the network side is the pairing establishment responsemessage, and the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message is sent to the benefited UE; therefore,pairing between the supporting UE and the benefitted UE may beaccomplished, and cooperative communication between the benefitted UEand the supporting UE is further established. In this case, when thepairing response message is the pairing establishment response message,the multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message is a response message used to indicate to thebenefitted UE that multiple user equipments pairing is accomplished.That is, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message is the establishment success responsemessage.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message carries a short-distance identifier of the supportingUE that sends the pairing establishment response message.

If it is determined that supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE or the first short-distance list cannotprovide support to this benefitted UE, this supporting UE sends thepairing failure response message to the network side. In this case, thenetwork side receives the pairing failure response message returned bythis supporting UE, and sends the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message to the benefitted UE. Inthis case, when the pairing response message is the pairing failureresponse message, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message is a response message used to indicate tothe benefitted UE that multiple user equipments pairing fails. That is,the multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message is the establishment failure response message.

Furthermore, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message carries the short-distance identifier ofthe supporting UE that sends the pairing failure response message.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, after a network side receivesa multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message sent by benefitted UE, when the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message carries firstinformation, according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in a first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE, apairing request message is sent to friend supporting UE corresponding toeach piece of short-distance identifier information in the first friendsupporting UE list, so that corresponding UE in the first friendsupporting UE list determines whether to provide support to thisbenefitted UE. When the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries second information,according to each piece of short-distance identifier information in afirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, the pairingrequest message is sent to supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first short-distanceidentifier list, so that supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first short-distanceidentifier list determines whether to provide support to this benefittedUE. The network side receives a pairing response message sent by thefirst friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE or the supportingUE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationin the first short-distance identifier list, and sends a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message tothe benefitted UE. In this way, in a process of establishing cooperativecommunication, the benefitted UE may implement that only friend UE ofthe benefitted UE provides support to the benefitted UE. Therefore acommunication link is established between the friend UE of thebenefitted UE and the benefitted UE, and/or supporting UE may implementthat only the supporting UE provides support to friend UE of thesupporting UE, and therefore a communication link is established betweenthe friend UE of the supporting UE and the supporting UE, so that whentransmission of data between the supporting UE and the benefitted UE isimplemented, security of data transmission of UE is improved and userexperience of the UE is improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 4, the methodincludes the following.

401: A base station receives a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by benefitted UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

402: The base station sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message to a first server.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message carries a first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, self benefitted capability information of the benefittedUE, and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that provides a service tothe benefitted UE. The self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE is information used to indicate whether only friend UEprovides support to the benefitted UE.

It should be noted that, the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and the self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE are acquired by the base station in advance.

The base station may determine the first short-distance identifier listof this benefitted UE and the self benefitted capability information ofthe benefitted UE according to the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE. The base station adds the first short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE, the self benefitted capability information ofthe benefitted UE, and the short-distance identifier of the benefited UEto the multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message, and sends the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message to the first server, sothat the first server acquires a supporting UE short-distance identifierlist of the benefited UE according to the self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefited UE.

Optionally, the first server may include: an MBB short-distance server.Alternatively, the first server may include: an application server. Whenthe first server includes the application server, that the base stationsends a multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message to a first server includes: sending, by the basestation, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message to the application server by using theshort-distance server.

403: The base station receives a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message sent by the first server.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries a supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE. The supporting UE short-distance identifier listis used to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the first server and that provides a service to thebenefitted UE.

Furthermore, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message further carries key information of thebenefitted UE and key information of supporting UE corresponding to eachpiece of short-distance identifier information in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

404: The base station sends a pairing request message to firstsupporting UE according to a supporting UE short-distance identifierlist.

The first supporting UE is UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list. The pairing request message carries ashort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, so that the firstsupporting UE determines, according to the short-distance identifier ofthe benefitted UE, whether the first supporting UE performs pairing withthe benefitted UE.

After receiving the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message sent by the first server, the basestation adds the acquired short-distance identifier of the benefitted UEto the pairing request message, and sends, to the first supporting UE,the pairing request message to which the short-distance identifier ofthe benefitted UE is added, that is, sends the pairing request messageto UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE, so that after receiving the pairing requestmessage, the UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE, that is, the first supporting UE determines,according to the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, whetherto perform pairing with this benefitted UE.

405: The base station receives a pairing response message sent by thefirst supporting UE, and sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message to the benefitted UE.

The pairing response message carries a short-distance identifier of UEthat sends the pairing response message to the base station. Themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment responsemessage carries the short-distance identifier of the UE that sends thepairing response message to the base station.

It should be noted that the short-distance identifier of the UE thatsends the pairing response message to the base station is ashort-distance identifier of supporting UE that can provide support tothe benefitted UE.

Furthermore, the pairing response message includes: a pairingestablishment response message or a pairing failure response message.The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

When the base station sends the pairing request message to the firstsupporting UE, the first supporting UE determines, according to ashort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, whether to performpairing with this benefitted UE, and if pairing can be performed on thefirst supporting UE and the benefitted UE, returns the pairingestablishment response message to the base station. In this case, thebase station may receive the pairing establishment response message sentby the first supporting UE. After receiving the pairing establishmentresponse message, the base station adds a short-distance identifier ofthis first supporting UE to the establishment success response message,that is, adds, to the establishment success response message,short-distance identifier information of the supporting UE that sendsthe pairing establishment response message to the base station, andsends the establishment success response message to the benefitted UE,so that the benefitted UE acquires the short-distance identifier of thefirst supporting UE that provides support to the benefitted UE.

If the first supporting UE cannot perform pairing with the benefittedUE, the first supporting UE returns the pairing failure response messageto the base station. In this case, the base station may receive thepairing failure response message sent by this first supporting UE. Afterreceiving the pairing failure response message, the base station addsthe short-distance identifier of this first supporting UE to theestablishment failure response message, that is, adds, to theestablishment failure response message, short-distance identifierinformation of the supporting UE that sends the pairing failure responsemessage to the base station, and sends the establishment failureresponse message to the benefitted UE, so that the benefitted UEacquires the short-distance identifier of the first supporting UE thatcannot provide support to the benefitted UE.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, after receiving a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagesent by benefitted UE, a base station sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message to a firstserver, receives a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message that is sent by the first server andthat carries a supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, and sends a pairing request message to first supportingUE according to the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE; and if the base station receives a pairing establishmentresponse message sent by the first supporting UE, the base station sendsa multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message to the benefitted UE. In this way, in a process ofestablishing cooperative communication, after receiving the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagesent by the benefitted UE, the base station may send the multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication request message tothe first server, so that the first server acquires a supporting UEshort-distance list of the benefitted UE, and therefore sends a pairingrequest to the first supporting UE, so as to establish a communicationlink between the first supporting UE and the benefitted UE, that is, thebenefitted UE may provide support to friend UE of the benefitted UE,and/or, supporting UE provides support to friend UE of the supportingUE, so that while transmission of data between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE is implemented, security of data transmission of UE can beimproved and user experience of the UE can be improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 5, the methodincludes the following.

501: A first server receives a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message sent by a base station.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message carries a first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, self benefitted capability information of the benefittedUE, and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that provides support to thebenefitted UE. The self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE is information used to indicate whether only friend UEprovides support to the benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier ofthe benefitted UE may uniquely identify the benefitted UE.

Furthermore, the first server may include: an MBB short-distance server.Alternatively, the first server may include: an application server.

When the first server is the MBB short-distance server, the first servermay directly receive the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message that is sent by the basestation and that carries the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE,and therefore acquire the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.When the first server is the application server, the first serverreceives the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message that is sent by the base station by usingthe short-distance server and that carries the first short-distanceidentifier list of benefitted UE and the short-distance identifier ofthe benefitted UE, and therefore the first short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE are acquired.

It should be noted that, after acquiring the self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE, the first server may perform differentsteps according to the self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE. When the self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE toprovide support, it indicates that only friend UE, having a specificsupporting function of the benefitted UE, can provide support to thebenefitted UE, and another non-friend UE does not provide support to thebenefitted UE. When the self benefitted capability information ofbenefitted UE indicates that the benefited UE allows any UE to providesupport, it indicates that any supporting UE may provide support to thebenefitted UE.

502: When self benefitted capability information of a benefitted UEindicates that only friend UE is allowed to provide support, the firstserver acquires a friend UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to a short-distance identifier of the benefitedUE.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE related to the benefittedUE.

After receiving the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message, the first server may acquire the selfbenefitted capability information of the benefitted UE from the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication request message.When it is parsed out that the self benefitted capability information ofthe benefitted UE indicates that only friend UE is allowed to providesupport, the first server may search, according to the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, an MUCC MBB Control Server in which afriend UE short-distance identifier list of each UE is stored, andtherefore may acquire the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE.

If the MUCC MBB Control Server is deployed in the first server, thefirst server may search, according to the short-distance identifier ofthe benefited UE, a friend UE short-distance identifier list, of eachUE, stored in the first server, and therefore acquire the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

If the MUCC MBB Control Server is deployed in another server, the firstserver may send a friend UE short-distance identifier list requestmessage to the other server in which the MUCC MBB Control Server isdeployed, where the friend UE short-distance identifier list requestmessage carries the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. Thefirst server receives a friend UE short-distance identifier listresponse message sent by the other server in which the MUCC MBB ControlServer is deployed. The friend UE short-distance identifier listresponse message carries the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE.

It should be noted that in the MUCC MBB Control Server, a short-distanceidentifier of UE and a friend UE short-distance identifier listcorresponding to the UE are prestored. That is, in the MUCC MBB ControlServer, a mapping relationship between the short-distance identifier ofthe UE and a friend UE short-distance identifier list is stored. Thatis, in the MUCC MBB Control Server, information, of friend UE of the UE,in each application is acquired, and according to the acquiredinformation, of the friend UE of the UE, in each application, acorrespondence between the short-distance identifier of the UE and ashort-distance identifier, of the friend UE of the UE, in eachapplication is determined.

503: The first server determines a first friend supporting UE list ofthe benefitted UE in a first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE.

The first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UE ofthe benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE of the benefitted UE is short-distance identifierinformation that is in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and that is same as the short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE.

After determining the friend UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefited UE according to the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE, the first server performs identity authentication on eachpiece of short-distance identifier information recorded in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE according to thefriend UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, that is,compares each piece of short-distance identifier information recorded inthe first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE with eachpiece of short-distance identifier information recorded in the friendshort UE distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, and therefore,short-distance identifier information that is the same as theshort-distance identifier information recorded in the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is determined in thefirst short-distance identifier list, and accordingly the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE is determined.

504: The first server acquires self supporting capability information offriend supporting UE of the benefitted UE according to short-distanceidentifier information of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE.

The self supporting capability information of the friend supporting UEis used to indicate whether the friend supporting UE supports onlyfriend UE. The friend UE of the UE refers to UE related to the UE. Thefriend supporting UE of the UE refers to UE, which can provide asupporting service to the UE, among friend UEs of the UE.

After acquiring the first friend supporting UE list of the benefittedUE, the first server may acquire a short-distance identifier of thefriend supporting UE, and therefore may search an MUCC MBB ControlServer according to the short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE, so that the self supporting capability informationof each friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE may be acquired.

It should be noted that, in the MUCC MBB Control Server, self capabilityinformation of each UE is further prestored. Self capability informationof UE includes self supporting capability information of the UE and selfbenefitted capability information of the UE.

505: The first server determines, according to the acquired selfsupporting capability information of the friend supporting UE of thebenefitted UE, a supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE in the first friend supporting UE list of the benefittedUE.

The supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the first server and that provides a supporting service tothe benefitted UE.

According to the different acquired self supporting capabilityinformation of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE, a methodby using which the first server determines the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE is different, and is as follows.

If the self supporting capability information of the friend supportingUE that is acquired by the first server indicates that the friendsupporting UE supports only friend UE, the first server acquires afriend UE short-distance identifier list of the friend supporting UEaccording to short-distance identifier information of the friendsupporting UE.

The first server performs identity authentication on the benefitted UEaccording to the friend UE short-distance identifier list of the friendsupporting UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.

If the first server determines that the benefitted UE has beenauthenticated, the first server records a short-distance identifier ofthe friend supporting UE to the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE.

That is, when the first server parses out that the acquired selfsupporting capability information of the friend supporting UE of thebenefitted UE indicates that the friend supporting UE supports onlyfriend UE, it indicates that the friend supporting UE only supportsfriend UE of the friend supporting UE. In this case, the first servermay search, according to the short-distance identifier of the friendsupporting UE, an MUCC MBB Control Server in which a friend UEshort-distance identifier list of each UE is stored, and therefore mayacquire the friend UE short-distance identifier list of the friendsupporting UE.

After acquiring a friend UE short-distance identifier list of the friendsupporting UE, the first server may perform identity authentication onthe benefitted UE according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe friend supporting UE and the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE, that is, search the friend UE short-distance identifierlists of the friend supporting UE to find whether one friend UEshort-distance identifier list matches the short-distance identifier ofthe benefitted UE.

If the first server finds, among the friend UE short-distance identifierlists of the friend supporting UE, one friend UE short-distanceidentifier list that matches the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE, it is determined that the benefitted UE is friend UE ofthe friend supporting UE, the first server may record the short-distanceidentifier of the friend supporting UE to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, that is, determinethis friend supporting UE as UE that can provide support to thebenefitted UE, so as to establish cooperative communication between thefriend supporting UE and the benefitted UE.

If the self supporting capability information, of the friend supportingUE, acquired by the first server indicates that the friend supporting UEsupports all UEs, the first server records the short-distance identifierof the friend supporting UE to the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE.

That is, the first server parses out that the acquired self supportingcapability information of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UEindicates that the friend supporting UE supports all UEs, it indicatesthat the friend supporting UE does not have any limit on UE to which thefriend supporting UE needs to provide support. In this case, the firstserver may determine this friend supporting UE as UE that can providesupport to the benefitted UE, and therefore, record the short-distanceidentifier of the friend supporting UE to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, that is, determinesthis friend supporting UE as the UE that can provide support to thebenefitted UE, so as to establish cooperative communication between thefriend supporting UE and the benefitted UE.

506: The first server sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message to the base station.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE.

After determining the supporting UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE, that is, determining supporting UE that may providesupport to the benefitted UE, the first server may add the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE to the multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication response message, sothat the base station sends a pairing request message to supporting UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, so as to establish a communication link between thebenefitted UE and the supporting UE.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, after a first server receivesa multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message sent by a base station, when self benefitted capabilityinformation of benefitted UE indicates that only friend UE is allowed toprovide support, the first server acquires a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to a short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, and determines a first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE in a first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE. The first serveracquires self supporting capability information of friend supporting UEof the benefitted UE according to short-distance identifier informationof the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE, determines, accordingto the acquired self supporting capability information of the friendsupporting UE of the benefitted UE, a supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE, and sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message carrying thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE to thebase station. In this way, when the self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE indicates that only friend UE isallowed to provide support, a server may determine the first friendsupporting UE list that only records short-distance identifierinformation of friend UE of the benefitted UE, and according to selfsupporting capability information of the UE corresponding to each pieceof short-distance identifier information recorded in the first friendsupporting UE list, determines the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE in the first friend supporting UElist according to self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE, and sends the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist to the base station, so that the base station sends a pairingrequest message to supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, so as to establisha communication link between the benefited UE and friend supporting UEof the benefitted UE; therefore, while transmission of data between thesupporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented, security of datatransmission of UE is improved and user experience of the UE isimproved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 6, the methodincludes the following.

601: Benefitted UE sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message to a base station.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

When needing to establish a cooperative communication link to supportingUE, the benefitted UE may send the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message to the base station, so asto establish a cooperative communication link to the supporting UE byusing the base station.

602: The benefitted UE receives a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message sent by the base station.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message carries a short-distance identifier of UE that sends apairing response message to the base station. That is, the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response messagecarries a short-distance identifier of supporting UE.

After sending the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message to the base station, the benefited UE maytrigger the base station to establish a cooperative communication linkbetween the benefitted UE and the supporting UE. The benefitted UE mayreceive the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message used to notify whether a cooperativecommunication link is successfully established between the benefitted UEand the supporting UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, benefitted UE sends a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messageto a base station, so that after receiving the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message sent by thebenefitted UE, the base station sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message to a firstserver, receives a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message that is sent by the first server andthat carries a supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, and sends a pairing request message to UE correspondingto the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UEaccording to the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE; and if the base station receives a pairing establishmentresponse message sent by the UE corresponding to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, the base stationsends a multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message to the benefited UE, and the benefited UE receives themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment responsemessage sent by the base station. In this way, in a process ofestablishing cooperative communication, after receiving the multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagesent by the benefitted UE, the base station may send the multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication request message tothe first server, so that the first server acquires a supporting UEshort-distance list of the benefitted UE according to self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE and self supportingcapability information of the supporting UE, and therefore sends apairing request to UE corresponding to short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance list of thebenefitted UE, so as to establish a communication link to the benefitedUE, that is, friend UE of the benefitted UE may provide support to thebenefitted UE, and/or, the supporting UE provides support to friend UEof the supporting UE, so that while transmission of data between thesupporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented, security of datatransmission of UE can be improved and user experience of the UE can beimproved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method forestablishing cooperative communication, as shown in FIG. 7, the methodincludes the following.

701: Supporting UE receives a pairing request message of a base station.

The pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier of abenefitted UE.

Furthermore, the pairing request message further carries key informationof the benefitted UE.

702: The supporting UE performs pairing processing with the benefittedUE according to the pairing request message.

The supporting UE may perform a process of pairing with the benefittedUE according to the benefitted UE carried in the pairing requestmessage.

Furthermore, in a case in which the pairing request message furthercarries the key information of the benefitted UE, the supporting UE mayperform pairing processing on key information of the supporting UEaccording to the key information of the benefitted UE, that is, thesupporting UE detects whether the key information of the benefited UEmay match the key information of the supporting UE, and if the keyinformation of the benefited UE may match the key information of thesupporting UE, pairing between the supporting UE and the benefitted UEsucceeds. If the key information of the benefitted UE cannot match thekey information of the supporting UE, pairing between the supporting UEand the benefitted UE fails.

703: The supporting UE sends a pairing response message to the basestation.

The pairing response message carries a short-distance identifier of thesupporting UE. The short-distance identifier of the supporting UE mayuniquely identify the supporting UE.

The pairing response message includes: a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message.

After determining that pairing with the benefitted UE succeeds, thesupporting UE sends the pairing establishment response message to thebase station, so as to notify the base station that a communication linkmay be established between the supporting UE and the benefitted UE.After determining that pairing with the benefitted UE fails, thesupporting UE sends the pairing failure response message to the basestation, so as to notify the base station that the supporting UE that acommunication link cannot be established between the supporting UE andthe benefitted UE.

Furthermore, the pairing response message further carries the keyinformation of the supporting UE.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, after receiving a pairingrequest message, supporting UE may perform pairing processing withbenefitted UE according to the pairing request message, and send apairing response message to a base station according to a pairingresult. In this way, in a process of establishing cooperativecommunication, after receiving a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by the benefitted UE,the base station may send a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message to a first server, so thatthe first server acquires a supporting UE short-distance list of thebenefitted UE according to self benefited capability information of thebenefitted UE and self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE, and therefore the pairing request message is sent to UEcorresponding to short-distance identifier information recorded in thesupporting UE short-distance list of the benefitted UE, that is, apairing request message is sent to the supporting UE, and the supportingUE performs pairing processing according to the pairing request message,so as to establish a communication link to the benefitted UE, that is,friend UE of the benefitted UE may provide support to the benefitted UE,and/or, the supporting UE provides support to friend UE of thesupporting UE, so that while transmission of data between the supportingUE and the benefitted UE is implemented, security of data transmissionof UE can be improved and user experience of the UE can be improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 8, the methodincludes the following.

801: Benefitted UE acquires a first short-distance identifier list.

Reference may be made to step 201, and details are described herein.

802: The benefitted UE determines, in the first short-distanceidentifier list according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the first short-distance identifier list,short-distance identifier information identifying that a supportingservice is provided.

The short-distance identifier information of the UE is further used toidentify whether the UE provides a supporting service.

After acquiring the first short-distance identifier list, the benefittedUE may determine, according to the short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the first short-distance identifier list, whether UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the first short-distance identifier list provides asupporting service, and therefore may determine, in the firstshort-distance identifier list, the short-distance identifierinformation of the UE that can provide a supporting service.

It should be noted that, according to different self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE, the benefitted UE performsdifferent steps. If self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE toprovide support, perform steps 803 a to 805 a and 806 to 811. If selfbenefitted capability information of the benefitted UE indicates thatthe benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support, perform steps 803 band 806 to 811.

803 a: When self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, the benefited UE acquires a friend UE short-distance identifierlist.

Reference may be made to step 202, and details are described herein.

803 b: When self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support, thebenefitted UE sends a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message carrying second information to a networkside. The network side receives the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message that is sent by thebenefitted UE and that carries the second information.

The second information includes the first short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE.

If the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support, itindicates that the benefitted UE does not have any limit on UE thatprovides support to the benefitted UE, which may be that friend UE ofthe benefitted UE provides a supporting service, or it may be not thatfriend UE of the benefitted UE provides a supporting service. In thisway, any UE corresponding to short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the first short-distance identifier list acquired by thebenefitted UE may provide support to the benefitted UE. In this case,the benefitted UE may directly send the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message carrying thesecond information to the network side, where the second informationincludes the first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UEand the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.

Furthermore, when the short-distance identifier information of the UE isfurther configured to identify whether the UE provides a supportingservice, in step 802, the benefitted UE determines short-distanceidentifier information that is in the first short-distance identifierlist and that identifies that the UE provides a supporting service. Inthis way, the benefitted UE may add the short-distance identifierinformation that is in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and that identifies that the UE provides a supportingservice and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, as thesecond information, to the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message, and send the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request message to thenetwork side.

The network side receives the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message that is sent by thebenefitted UE and that carries the second information. Reference may bemade to step 301, and details are described herein.

804 a: The benefited UE determines a first friend supporting UE list ofthe benefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier list.

Reference may be made to step 203, and details are described herein.

Furthermore, when the short-distance identifier information of the UE isfurther configured to identify whether the UE provides a supportingservice, and in step 802, the benefitted UE determines short-distanceidentifier information that is in the first short-distance identifierlist and that identifies that the UE provides a supporting service. Inthis way, the benefitted UE may determine the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distanceidentifier list from the short-distance identifier information that isin the first short-distance identifier list and that identifies that theUE provides a supporting service.

805 a: The benefitted UE sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carrying first informationto the network side. The network side receives the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request message,carrying the first information, sent by the benefitted UE.

The first information includes the first friend supporting UE list ofthe benefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.

Reference may be made to step 204 and step 301, and details aredescribed herein.

806: The network side sends a pairing request message to supporting UE.The supporting UE receives the pairing request message.

When the multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries the first information, the network side sends,according to each piece of short-distance identifier information in thefirst friend supporting UE list of the benefited UE, the pairing requestmessage to friend supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE. Reference may be made to step 302, anddetails are described herein.

When the multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries the second information, the network side sends,according to each piece of short-distance identifier information in thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, the pairingrequest message to supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE. Reference may be made to step 302,and details are described herein.

The supporting UE receives the pairing request message. Reference may bemade to step 101, and details are described herein.

807: The supporting UE determines whether the supporting UE provides asupporting service.

After receiving the pairing request message, the supporting UE maydetermine, according to whether the supporting UE turns off a functionof providing support, whether the supporting UE provides a supportingservice. If the supporting UE turns off a function of providing support,the supporting UE cannot provide a supporting service. If the supportingUE turns on a function of providing support, the supporting UE mayprovide a supporting service.

It should be noted that, according to different determining results ofthe supporting UE, steps to be performed are also different. If thesupporting UE determines that the supporting UE provides a supportingservice, perform steps 808 a 1 to 810 a 1 and 811 or 808 a 2 and 811. Ifthe supporting UE determines that the supporting UE does not provide asupporting service, perform steps 808 b and 811.

It should be noted that, after the supporting UE receives the pairingrequest message, in a case in which the supporting UE determines thatthe supporting UE provides a supporting service, according to differentself supporting capability information of the supporting UE, thesupporting UE subsequently performs different steps. If the selfsupporting capability information of the supporting UE indicates thatthe supporting UE supports only friend UE, perform steps 808 a 1 to 810a 1 and 811. If the self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports all UEs, performsteps 808 a 2 and 811.

808 a 1: When the self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE,the supporting UE acquires a friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe supporting UE.

In a case in which the supporting UE determines that the supporting UEprovides a supporting service, when the self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE indicates that the supporting UEsupports only friend UE, the supporting UE acquires the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the supporting UE. Reference may bemade to step 102, and details are described herein.

808 a 2: When the self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports all UEs, thesupporting UE performs pairing processing with the benefitted UE, andsends a pairing response message to the network side. The network sidereceives the pairing response message.

In a case in which the supporting UE determines that the supporting UEprovides a supporting service, when the self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE indicates that the supporting UEsupports all UEs, it indicates that the supporting UE does not have anylimit on UE to which the supporting UE needs to provide support, whichmay be that friend UE of the supporting UE provides support, or may bethat another non-friend UE provides support. In this case, after thesupporting UE receives the pairing request message, the supporting UEmay perform pairing processing with the benefitted UE according to ashort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE that is carried in thepairing request message. If pairing between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE succeeds, the supporting UE sends a pairing establishmentresponse message to the network side. If pairing between the supportingUE and the benefitted UE fails, the supporting UE sends a pairingfailure response message to the network side. The network side receivesthe pairing response message. Reference may be made to step 303, anddetails are described herein.

It should be noted that, that the supporting UE performs pairingprocessing with the benefitted UE according to the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE that is carried in the pairing requestmessage is the same as that in the prior art, and details are describedherein.

808 b: In a case in which the supporting UE determines that thesupporting UE does not provide a supporting service, send a pairingfailure response message to the network side. The network side receivesthe pairing failure response message.

In a case in which the supporting UE determines that the supporting UEdoes not provide a supporting service, it indicates that the supportingUE cannot provide support to the benefitted UE, and therefore acommunication link cannot be established between the supporting UE andthe benefitted UE. In this case, the supporting UE sends the pairingfailure response message to the network side, so as to notify thebenefitted UE by using the network side that this supporting UE cannotprovide support to the benefited UE. The network side receives thepairing failure response message. Reference may be made to step 303, anddetails are described herein.

809 a 1: The supporting UE performs identity authentication on thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier listand a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE that is carried inthe pairing request message.

Reference may be made to step 103, and details are described herein.

810 a 1: If the benefitted UE has been authenticated, the supporting UEperforms pairing processing with the benefitted UE, and sends thepairing response message to the network side. The network side receivesthe pairing response message.

Reference may be made to step 104 and step 303, and details aredescribed herein.

811: The network side sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message to the benefited UE. Thebenefited UE receives the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message sent by the network side.

Reference may be made to step 303 and step 205, and details aredescribed herein.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, benefitted UE acquires a firstshort-distance identifier list, sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message carrying firstinformation or second information to a network side according to selfbenefitted capability information of the benefitted UE, and after thenetwork side receives the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by the benefitted UE,when the multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries the first information, sends, according to eachpiece of short-distance identifier information in a first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE, a pairing request message tofriend supporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information in the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefited UE, so that corresponding UE in the first friend supporting UElist determines whether to provide support to this the benefitted UE.Alternatively, when the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries the secondinformation, according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, the pairing request message is sent to supporting UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier information inthe first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, so thatthe UE corresponding to the first short-distance identifier listdetermines whether to provide support to this benefitted UE. The networkside receives a pairing response message sent by the first friendsupporting UE list or supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first short-distanceidentifier list, and sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message to the benefitted UE. Inthis way, in a process of establishing cooperative communication, thebenefitted UE may implement that only friend UE of the benefitted UEprovides support, and therefore a communication link is establishedbetween the friend UE of the benefited UE and the benefitted UE, and/orsupporting UE may implement that the supporting UE provides support toonly friend UE of the supporting UE; therefore, a communication link isestablished between the friend UE of the supporting UE and thesupporting UE, so that when transmission of data between the supportingUE and the benefitted UE is implemented, security of data transmissionof UE is improved and user experience of the UE is improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 9, the methodincludes the following.

901: Benefitted UE acquires an information report of the benefitted UE.

The information report of the benefitted UE carries a firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, a short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, and self capability information of thebenefitted UE. The first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE is used to record short-distance identifier information ofUE that provides a service to the benefitted UE. The self capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE includes the self supporting capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE and self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE. The self supporting capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whether thebenefitted UE supports only friend UE. The self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whether only friendUE provides support to the benefitted UE. The friend UE of thebenefitted UE refers to UE related to the benefitted UE.

The benefitted UE may acquire the first short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE from an MBB short-distance server, and thebenefitted UE may know the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE and self capability information of the benefitted UE.

902: The benefitted UE sends the information report of the benefitted UEto a base station, and the base station receives the information reportof the benefitted UE.

903: The supporting UE acquires an information report of the supportingUE.

The information report of the supporting UE carries a firstshort-distance identifier list of the supporting UE, a short-distanceidentifier of the supporting UE, and self capability information of thesupporting UE. The first short-distance identifier list of thesupporting UE is used to record short-distance identifier information ofUE that provides a service to the supporting UE. The self capabilityinformation of the supporting UE includes self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE and self benefitted capabilityinformation of the supporting UE. The self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE is used to indicate whether thesupporting UE supports only friend UE. The self benefitted capabilityinformation of the supporting UE is used to indicate whether only friendUE provides support to the supporting UE. The friend UE of thesupporting UE refers to UE related to the supporting UE.

Reference may be made to a process that the benefitted UE acquires theinformation report of the benefitted UE, and details are describedherein.

904: The supporting UE sends the information report of the supporting UEto the base station. The base station receives the information report ofthe supporting UE.

It should be noted that in the present invention, a sequence betweensteps 901 and 902 and steps 903 and 904 is not limited. Steps 901 and902 may be performed first, and steps 903 and 904 are performed; steps903 and 904 may be performed first, and steps 901 and 902 are performed;or steps 901 and 902 may be performed at the same time when steps 903and 904 are performed; only one case is represented in the figure.

905: The benefitted UE sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message to the base station. Thebase station receives the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by the benefitted UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may be used touniquely identify the benefitted UE.

Reference may be made to step 401 and step 601, and details aredescribed herein.

906: The base station acquires link quality information between UEserved by the base station and the base station.

The base station may determine, according to a received signal sent byUE served by the base station, the link quality information between theUE served by the base station and the base station.

907: The base station updates a first short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE according to the acquired link quality information.

The base station determines, according to the acquired link qualityinformation in UEs served by the base station, UE whose link with thebase station has quality that is less than a first threshold value,deletes, from the first short-distance identifier list of the benefitedUE, short-distance identifier information of the determined UE whoselink with the base station has the quality that is less than the firstthreshold value, and updates the first short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE.

It should be noted that the first threshold value is preset.

That is, after acquiring the link quality information between the UEserved by the base station and the base station, the base stationdetermines, in UEs served by the base station, the UE whose link withthe base station has the quality that is less than the first thresholdvalue, and deletes, from the first short-distance identifier list, theshort-distance information of the UE whose link with the base stationhas the quality that is less than the first threshold value, so as toupdate the first short-distance identifier list. Therefore, the qualityof the link between UE corresponding to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information recorded in the updated first short-distanceidentifier list and the base station is greater than the first thresholdvalue.

908: The base station sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message to a first server. Thefirst server receives the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message sent by the base station.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message carries the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, self benefitted capability information of the benefittedUE, and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that provides a service tothe benefitted UE. The self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE is used to indicate whether only friend UE providessupport to the benefitted UE.

Reference may be made to step 402 and step 501, and details aredescribed herein.

Furthermore, if the base station updates first short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE, the base station adds the updated firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, and the self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE to the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message, and sends thismultiple user equipment cooperative communication authentication requestmessage to the first server. In this case, the first server receives themultiple user equipment cooperative communication authentication requestmessage sent by the base station. The multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message carries thefirst short-distance identifier list, of the benefitted UE, updated bythe base station, the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE,and the self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE.

That is, the quality of a link between UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the firstshort-distance identifier list, of the benefitted UE, acquired by thefirst server and the base station is greater than a first thresholdvalue.

It should be noted that, according to different self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE, the first server performsdifferent steps subsequently. If the self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allowsonly friend UE to provide support, perform steps 909 a to 912 a andsteps 913 to 919. If the self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allows any UE to providesupport, perform steps 909 b and 910 b and steps 913 to 919.

909 a: When self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that only friend UE is allowed to provide support, the firstserver acquires a friend UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to a short-distance identifier of the benefitedUE.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE related to the benefittedUE.

Reference may be made to step 502, and details are described herein.

909 b: When self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that any UE is allowed to provide support, the first serveracquires self supporting capability information of the first UE.

The first UE is UE corresponding to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information recorded in the first short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE.

A process that the first server acquires the self supporting capabilityinformation of the first UE according to the first short-distanceidentifier information of UE is the same as a process that the firstserver acquires self supporting capability information of friendsupporting UE of the benefitted UE according to short-distanceidentifier information of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE.Reference may be made to step 911 a, and details are described herein.

910 a: The first server determines a first friend supporting UE list ofthe benefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE.

The first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UE ofthe benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE of the benefitted UE is short-distance identifierinformation that is in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and that is same as the short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE.

Reference may be made to step 503, and details are described herein.

910 b: The first server determines a supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefited UE according to the self supportingcapability information of the first UE.

The supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the first server and that provides a supporting service tothe benefitted UE.

According to different acquired self supporting capability informationof the first UE, a method by using which the first server determines thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is different,and is as follows:

If the self supporting capability information, acquired by the firstserver, of the first UE indicates that the first UE supports only friendUE, the first server acquires a friend UE short-distance identifier listof the first UE according to the first short-distance identifierinformation of the first UE.

The first server performs identity authentication on the benefitted UEaccording to the friend UE short-distance identifier list of the firstUE and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.

If the first server determines that the benefitted UE has beenauthenticated, the first server records a short-distance identifier ofthe first UE to the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

That is, when the first server parses out that the self supportingcapability information of the first UE indicates that the first UEsupports only friend UE, the first server may search, according to theshort-distance identifier of the first UE, an MUCC MBB Control Server inwhich a friend UE short-distance identifier list of each UE is stored,and therefore may acquire a friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe first UE.

After acquiring the friend UE short-distance identifier list of thefirst UE, the first server may perform identity authentication on thebenefitted UE according to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe first UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE,that is, search the friend UE short-distance identifier lists of thefirst UE to find whether one friend UE short-distance identifier listmatches the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.

If the first server finds, among the friend UE short-distance identifierlists of the first UE, one friend UE short-distance identifier list thatmatches the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, it isdetermined that the benefited UE is friend UE of the first UE, and thefirst server may record the short-distance identifier of the first UE tothe supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.That is, this first UE is determined as UE that can provide support tothe benefitted UE.

If the self supporting capability information of the first UE acquiredby the first server indicates that the first UE supports all UEs, thefirst server records a short-distance identifier of the first UE to thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

That is, when the first server parses out that the acquired selfsupporting capability information of the first UE indicates that thefirst UE supports all UEs, it indicates that the first UE does not haveany limit on UE to which the first UE needs to provide support. In thiscase, the first server may determine this first UE as UE that canprovide support to the benefitted UE, and therefore, record theshort-distance identifier of the first UE to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

911 a: The first server acquires self supporting capability informationof friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE according to short-distanceidentifier information of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE.

The self supporting capability information of the friend supporting UEis used to indicate whether the friend supporting UE supports onlyfriend UE. The friend UE of the UE refers to UE related to the UE. Thefriend supporting UE of the UE refers to UE, which can provide asupporting service to the UE, among friend UEs of the UE.

Reference may be made to step 504, and details are described herein.

912 a: The first server determines the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE according to the acquired self supportingcapability information of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE.

The supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the first server and that provides a supporting service tothe benefitted UE.

Reference may be made to step 505, and details are described herein.

913: The first server determines, in the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the UE according to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information recorded in the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, short-distance identifierinformation identifying that a supporting service is provided, andupdates the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the UE.

The short-distance identifier information of the UE is furtherconfigured to identify whether the UE provides a supporting service, andthe UE includes: the benefitted UE and the supporting UE.

After acquiring the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, the first server may determine, according to each pieceof short-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, whether UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE provides a supporting service, and therefore, maydetermine, in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, short-distance identifier information identifying that asupporting service can be provided, so as to update the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the UE, so that UE corresponding toeach piece of short-distance identifier information recorded in theupdated supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the UE providesa supporting service.

914: The first server acquires key information of the benefitted UE, andkey information of supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

The first server may search an MUCC MBB Control Server, and thereforemay acquire the key information of the benefitted UE, and the keyinformation of the supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

It should be noted that, in the MUCC MBB Control Server, key informationof each UE is further prestored.

915: The first server sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message to the base station. Thebase station receives the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message sent by the first server.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE.

Reference may be made to steps 506 and 403, and details are describedherein.

Furthermore, after the first server updates the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the UE, the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message carries theupdated supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE, that is, UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist, of the benefitted UE, acquired by the base station provides asupporting service.

Furthermore, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message further carries the key information ofthe benefitted UE, and the key information of the supporting UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

916: The base station sends a pairing request message to firstsupporting UE according to the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist. The first supporting UE receives the pairing request message.

The first supporting UE is UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list, and the pairing request message carriesthe short-distance identifier of the benefited UE, so that the firstsupporting UE determines, according to the short-distance identifier ofthe benefited UE, whether the first supporting UE performs pairing withthe benefitted UE.

Reference may be made to step 404 and step 701, and details aredescribed herein.

Furthermore, the pairing request message further carries the keyinformation of the benefitted UE.

917: The first supporting UE performs pairing processing with thebenefitted UE according to the pairing request message.

Reference may be made to step 702, and details are described herein.

918: The first supporting UE sends a pairing response message to thebase station. The base station receives the pairing response messagesent by the first supporting UE.

The pairing response message carries a short-distance identifier of thefirst supporting UE.

Furthermore, the pairing response message further carries keyinformation of the first supporting UE.

Reference may be made to step 703 and step 405, and details aredescribed herein.

919: The base station sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message to the benefited UE. Thebenefited UE receives the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment response message sent by the base station.

Reference may be made to step 405 and step 602, and details aredescribed herein.

For the method for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, benefitted UE sends a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messageto a base station, after receiving the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message sent by thebenefitted UE, the base station sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message to a firstserver, and the first server receives the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message, determines,according to self benefitted capability information of the benefittedUE, supporting UE that provides support to the benefitted UE, determinesa supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UEaccording to self supporting capability information of the supporting UEthat provides support to the benefitted UE, and sends the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE to the base station.After receiving the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, the base station sends a pairing request message to firstsupporting UE according to the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE. The first supporting UE performs pairingprocessing with the benefitted UE according to the pairing requestmessage, and sends a pairing response message to the base station. Thebase station sends a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message to the benefitted UE. In this way, in aprocess of establishing cooperative communication, the benefitted UE mayimplement that only friend UE of the benefitted UE provides support, andtherefore a communication link is established between the friend UE ofthe benefitted UE and the benefitted UE, and/or the supporting UE mayimplement that the supporting UE provides support to only friend UE ofthe supporting UE, and therefore a communication link is establishedbetween the friend UE of the supporting UE and the supporting UE, sothat when transmission of data between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE is implemented, security of data transmission of UE isimproved and user experience of the UE is improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides supporting userequipment UE. As shown in FIG. 10, the supporting UE includes thefollowing.

A receiving unit 1001 is configured to receive a pairing request messagesent by a network side.

The pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier ofbenefitted UE, and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UEmay be used to uniquely identify the benefitted UE.

An acquiring unit 1002 is configured to: when self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE indicates that the supporting UEsupports only friend UE, acquire a friend UE short-distance identifierlist.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that is served by thesupporting UE and that is related to the supporting UE. The selfsupporting capability information of the supporting UE is informationused to indicate whether the supporting UE supports only friend UE. Thefriend UE of the supporting UE refers to UE related to the supportingUE.

The acquiring unit 1002, configured to send a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list request message to a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication mobile broadband control server MUCC MBB Control Server,and receive a friend UE short-distance identifier list response messagesent by the MUCC MBB Control Server. The friend UE short-distanceidentifier list response message carries the friend UE short-distanceidentifier list.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list request message carries ashort-distance identifier of the supporting UE.

A authentication unit 1003 is configured to perform identityauthentication on the benefitted UE according to the friend UEshort-distance identifier list acquired by the acquiring unit 1002 andthe short-distance identifier, carried in the pairing request messagereceived by the receiving unit low, of the benefited UE.

A pairing unit 1004 is configured to: when the benefitted UE has beenauthenticated by the authentication unit 1003, perform pairingprocessing with the benefitted UE.

A sending unit 1005 is configured to send a pairing response message tothe network side.

The pairing response message includes: a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message.

Furthermore, the sending unit 1005 is further configured to: when thebenefitted UE has not been authenticated by the authentication unit1003, send the pairing failure response message to the network side.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1i , the supporting UE further includesthe following.

A determining unit 1006, configured to determine whether the supportingUE provides a supporting service.

The acquiring unit 1002 is configured to: in a case in which thedetermining unit 1006 determines that the supporting UE provides asupporting service, when the self supporting capability information ofthe supporting UE indicates that the supporting UE supports only friendUE, acquire the friend UE short-distance identifier list of thesupporting UE.

Furthermore, the sending unit 1005 is further configured to: in a casein which the determining unit 1006 determines that the supporting UEdoes not provide a supporting service, send the pairing failure responsemessage to the network side.

Furthermore, the pairing unit 1004 is further configured to: when theself supporting capability information of the supporting UE indicatesthat the supporting UE supports all UEs, perform pairing processing withthe benefitted UE.

For the supporting UE provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, after the supporting UE receives a pairing request message,when self supporting capability information of the supporting UEindicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE, the supportingUE acquires a friend UE short-distance identifier list, performsidentity authentication on the benefitted UE according to ashort-distance identifier of benefitted UE carried in the pairingrequest message and the friend UE short-distance identifier list, and ina case in which the benefitted UE has been authenticated, send a pairingestablishment response message to a network side, so as to establish acommunication link between the supporting UE and the benefitted UE. Inthis way, in a process of establishing cooperative communication, whenthe self supporting capability information of the supporting UEindicates that the supporting UE supports only friend UE, the supportingUE may perform identity authentication on the benefitted UE requestingto establish a communication link, so that a communication link can beestablished between the supporting UE and only the benefitted UE thathas been authenticated. Because the supporting UE performs identityauthentication on the benefitted UE, a communication link can beestablished between the supporting UE and only the benefitted UE relatedto the supporting UE, so that transmission of data between thesupporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented, thereby improvingsecurity of data transmission of UE and improving user experience of theUE.

An embodiment of the present invention provides benefitted UE. As shownin FIG. 12, the benefitted UE includes the following.

An acquiring unit 1101 is configured to acquire a first short-distanceidentifier list.

The first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of UE that provides aservice to the benefitted UE.

The acquiring unit 1101 is further configured to: when self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE indicates that thebenefitted UE allows only friend UE to provide support, acquire a friendUE short-distance identifier list.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE related to the benefittedUE. The self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE isused to indicate whether only friend UE provides support to thebenefitted UE. The friend UE of the benefitted UE refers to UE relatedto the benefitted UE.

Furthermore, the acquiring unit 1101 may acquire the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE from an MUCC MBBControl Server. In this case, the acquiring unit 1101 is configured tosend a friend UE short-distance identifier list request message to theMUCC MBB Control Server, and receive a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list response message sent by the MUCC MBB Control Server.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list request message carries ashort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The friend UEshort-distance identifier list response message carries the friend UEshort-distance identifier list.

It should be noted that in the MUCC MBB Control Server, a short-distanceidentifier of UE and a friend UE short-distance identifier listcorresponding to the UE are prestored. That is, in the MUCC MBB ControlServer, a mapping relationship between the short-distance identifier ofthe UE and a friend UE short-distance identifier list of the UE isstored.

A determining unit 1102 is configured to determine a first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefited UE according to the friend UEshort-distance identifier list acquired by the acquiring unit 1101.

The first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UE ofthe benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE is short-distance identifier information that is inthe first short-distance identifier list and that is the same as theshort-distance identifier information recorded in the friend UEshort-distance identifier list.

A sending unit 1103 is configured to send a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message carrying firstinformation to a network side.

The first information includes the first friend supporting UE list ofthe benefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

A receiving unit 1104 is configured to receive a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message sent by thenetwork side.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

When the multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message is the establishment success response message, themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment responsemessage carries a short-distance identifier of supporting UE that sendsa pairing establishment response message.

Furthermore, the sending unit 1103 is further configured to: when theself benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE indicatesthat the benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support, send a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarrying second information to the network side.

The second information includes the first short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE.

Furthermore, the short-distance identifier information of the UE isfurther used to identify whether the UE provides a supporting service.In this case:

The determining unit 1102 is further configured to determine, in thefirst short-distance identifier list according to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the firstshort-distance identifier list acquired by the acquiring unit 1101,short-distance identifier information identifying that a supportingservice is provided.

The determining unit 1102 is configured to determine the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE according to the friend UEshort-distance identifier list and the short-distance identifierinformation, in which a supporting service is provided, in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

For the benefitted UE provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, after benefitted UE acquires a first short-distanceidentifier list, when self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE toprovide support, the benefitted UE acquires a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list, determines a first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list according tothe friend UE short-distance identifier list, and sends a first multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarrying first information to a network side, where the firstinformation includes the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. Inthis way, in a process of establishing cooperative communication, whenthe self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, the benefitted UE determines, in the first short-distanceidentifier list, friend UE that can provide support to the benefittedUE, that is, acquires the first friend supporting UE list, and sendsthis list to the network side, so that the network side establishes acommunication link between friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE andthe benefitted UE, which implements transmission of data betweensupporting UE and the benefited UE, thereby improving security of datatransmission of UE and improving user experience of the UE.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 13, theapparatus includes the following.

A receiving unit 1201 is configured to receive a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message sent bybenefitted UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries first information or second information. Thefirst information includes a first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. Thesecond information includes a first short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

A sending unit 1202 is configured to: when the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message carries thefirst information, send, according to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information in the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE, a pairing request message to friend supporting UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier information inthe first friend supporting UE list of the benefited UE. When themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment requestmessage carries the second information, send, according to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, a pairing request message tosupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

The pairing request message carries the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE.

The receiving unit 1201 is further configured to receive a pairingresponse message sent by supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefited UE or a first short-distance list.

The pairing response message includes: a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

Furthermore, when the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message is the establishment success responsemessage, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message carries a short-distance identifier ofsupporting UE that sends the pairing establishment response message.

The sending unit 1202 is further configured to send the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message tothe benefitted UE.

For the apparatus for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, after the apparatus forestablishing cooperative communication receives a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request message sentby benefitted UE, when the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries first information,the apparatus for establishing cooperative communication sends,according to each piece of short-distance identifier information in afirst friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE, a pairing requestmessage to friend supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist, so that corresponding UE in the first friend supporting UE listdetermines whether to provide support to this benefitted UE. When themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment requestmessage carries second information, according to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in a first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, the pairing request message issent to supporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information in the first short-distance, so that supportingUE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationin the first short-distance identifier list determines whether toprovide support to this benefitted UE. The apparatus for establishingcooperative communication receives a pairing response message sent bythe first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE or supportingUE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationin the first short-distance identifier list, and sends a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message tothe benefited UE. In this way, in a process of establishing cooperativecommunication, the benefitted UE may implement that only friend UE ofthe benefitted UE provides support, and therefore a communication linkis established between the friend UE of the benefitted UE and thebenefitted UE, and/or supporting UE may implement that the supporting UEprovides support to only friend UE of the supporting UE, and therefore acommunication link is established between the friend UE of thesupporting UE and the supporting UE, so that when transmission of databetween the supporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented, securityof data transmission of UE is improved and user experience of the UE isimproved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a base station. As shownin FIG. 14, the base station includes the following.

A receiving unit 1301, configured to receive a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message sent bybenefitted UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

A sending unit 1302 is configured to send a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message to a firstserver.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message carries a first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, self benefitted capability information of the benefittedUE, and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that provides a service tothe benefitted UE. The self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE is information used to indicate whether only friend UEprovides support to the benefitted UE.

It should be noted that, the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and the self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE are acquired by the base station in advance.

The receiving unit 1301 is further configured to receive a multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication response message sentby the first server.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries a supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE. The supporting UE short-distance identifier listis used to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the first server and that provides a service to thebenefitted UE.

Furthermore, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message further carries key information ofsupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE, and key information of the benefitted UE.

The sending unit 1302 is further configured to send a pairing requestmessage to first supporting UE according to according to the supportingUE short-distance identifier list.

The first supporting UE is UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list, and the pairing request message carriesthe short-distance identifier of the benefited UE, so that the firstsupporting UE determines, according to the short-distance identifier ofthe benefited UE, whether the first supporting UE performs pairing withthe benefitted UE.

Furthermore, the pairing request message further carries the keyinformation of the benefitted UE.

The receiving unit 1301 is further configured to receive a pairingresponse message sent by the first supporting UE.

The pairing response message carries a short-distance identifier of thefirst supporting UE, that is, carries a short-distance identifier of UEthat sends the pairing response message to the base station.

Furthermore, the pairing response message includes: a pairingestablishment response message or a pairing failure response message.

Furthermore, the pairing response message further carries keyinformation of UE that sends the pairing response message to the basestation, that is, the first supporting UE.

The sending unit 1302 is further configured to send a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message tothe benefitted UE according to the pairing response message received bythe receiving unit 1301.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message carries the short-distance identifier of the firstsupporting UE, that is, the short-distance identifier of the UE thatsends the pairing response message to the base station.

Further, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message includes: an establishment successresponse message or an establishment failure response message.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15, the base station further includes thefollowing.

An acquiring unit 1303 is configured to acquire an information report ofUE.

The information report of the UE carries the first short-distanceidentifier list of the UE, the short-distance identifier of the UE, andself capability information of UE. The self capability information ofthe UE includes self supporting capability information of the UE andself benefitted capability information of the UE. The self supportingcapability information of the UE is used to indicate whether the UEsupports only friend UE. The self benefitted capability information ofthe UE is used to indicate whether only friend UE provides support tothe UE. The UE is UE that performs communication with the base station,and includes: the benefitted UE and the first supporting UE.

Furthermore, referring to FIG. 15, the base station further includes: anupdate unit 1304.

The acquiring unit 1303 is further configured to acquire link qualityinformation between UE served by the base station and the base station.

The update unit 1304 is configured to update the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the link qualityinformation acquired by the acquiring unit 1303.

The update unit 1304 is configured to determine, in UEs served by thebase station according to the acquired link quality information, UEwhose link with the base station has quality that is less than a firstthreshold value, delete, from the first short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE, short-distance identifier information of thedetermined UE whose link with the base station has the quality that isless than the first threshold value, and update the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE.

It should be noted that, the first threshold value is preset.

The sending unit 1302 is configured to send the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message to the firstserver, where the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message carries the first short-distanceidentifier list, of the benefitted UE, updated by the update unit 1304,the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, and the selfbenefitted capability information of the benefitted UE.

For the base station provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, after receiving a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by benefitted UE, thebase station sends a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message to a first server, receives a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication response messagethat is sent by the first server and that carries a supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, and sends a pairingrequest message to first supporting UE according to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE; and if the basestation receives a pairing establishment response message sent by thefirst supporting UE, the base station sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message to thebenefitted UE. In this way, in a process of establishing cooperativecommunication, after receiving the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by the benefitted UE,the base station may send the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message to the first server, sothat the first server acquires a supporting UE short-distance list ofthe benefitted UE, and therefore send a pairing request to the firstsupporting UE, so as to establish a communication link between the firstsupporting UE and the benefitted UE, that is, the benefitted UE mayprovide support to friend UE of the benefitted UE, and/or, supporting UEprovides support to friend UE of the supporting UE, so that whiletransmission of data between the supporting UE and the benefitted UE isimplemented, security of data transmission of UE can be improved anduser experience of the UE can be improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a server. As shown inFIG. 16, the server includes the following.

A receiving unit 1501 is configured to receive a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message sent by a basestation.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message carries a first short-distance identifier list of abenefitted UE, self benefitted capability information of the benefittedUE, and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that provides support to thebenefitted UE. The self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE is used to indicate whether only friend UE providessupport to the benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier of thebenefited UE may uniquely identify the benefitted UE.

An acquiring unit 1502 is configured to: when the self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE indicates that thebenefitted UE allows only friend UE to provide support, acquire a friendUE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE according to theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE related tothe benefitted UE.

A determining unit 1503 is configured to determine a first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefited UE according to the friend UEshort-distance identifier list, of the benefitted UE, acquired by theacquiring unit 1502.

The first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UE ofthe benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE of the benefitted UE is short-distance identifierinformation that is in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and that is the same as the short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE.

The acquiring unit 1502 is further configured to acquire self supportingcapability information of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UEaccording to the short-distance identifier information, of the friendsupporting UE of the benefitted UE, determined by the determining unit1503.

The self supporting capability information of the friend supporting UEis used to indicate whether the friend supporting UE supports onlyfriend UE.

The determining unit 1503 is further configured to determine asupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in thefirst friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE according to theself supporting capability information, of the friend supporting UE ofthe benefitted UE, acquired by the acquiring unit 1502.

The supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the first server and that provides a supporting service tothe benefitted UE.

According to different acquired self supporting capability informationof the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE, a method by usingwhich the determining unit 1503 determines the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE is different, and is as follows:

The determining unit 1503 is configured to: when the acquired selfsupporting capability information of the friend supporting UE indicatesthat the friend supporting UE supports only friend UE, acquire a friendUE short-distance identifier list of the friend supporting UE accordingto the short-distance identifier information of the friend supportingUE; perform identity authentication on the benefitted UE according tothe friend UE short-distance identifier list of the friend supporting UEand the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE; and when it isdetermined that the benefitted UE has been authenticated, record ashort-distance identifier of the friend supporting UE to the supportingUE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

Alternatively, the determining unit 1503 is configured to: when theacquired self supporting capability information of the friend supportingUE indicates that the friend supporting UE supports all UEs, record ashort-distance identifier of the friend supporting UE to the supportingUE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

A sending unit 1504 is configured to send a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message to the basestation.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE.

Furthermore, the acquiring unit 1502 is further configured to: when theself benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE indicatesthat the benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support, acquire selfsupporting capability information of the first UE, where the first UE isUE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the first short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE.

In this case, the determining unit 1503 is further configured todetermine the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the self supporting capability information,acquired by the acquiring unit 1502, of the first UE.

According to different acquired self supporting capability informationof the UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, a method by using which the determining unit 1503determines the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE is different, and is as follows:

The determining unit 1503 is configured to: when the self supportingcapability information of the first UE acquired by the acquiring unit1502 indicated that the first UE supports only friend UE, acquire afriend UE short-distance identifier list of the first UE according tothe first short-distance identifier information of the first UE; performidentity authentication on the benefitted UE according to the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the first UE and the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE; and when it is determined that thebenefited UE has been authenticated, record a short-distance identifierof the first UE to the supporting UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE.

Alternatively, the determining unit 1503 is configured to: when the selfsupporting capability information, acquired by the acquiring unit 1502,of the first UE indicates that the first UE supports all UEs, record theshort-distance identifier of the first UE to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 17, the server further includes: an updateunit 1505.

The short-distance identifier information of the UE is further used toidentify whether the UE provides a supporting service.

In this case, the determining unit 1503 is further configured todetermine, in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the UEaccording to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, short-distance identifier information identifying that asupporting service is provided.

The update unit 1505 is configured to update the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the UE according to the short-distanceidentifier information, identifying that a supporting service isprovided, determined by the determining unit 1503.

The sending unit 1504 is configured to send the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message to the basestation. In this case, the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message carries the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list, of the UE, updated by the update unit1505.

Furthermore, the acquiring unit 1502 is further configured to acquirekey information of the benefitted UE, and key information of supportingUE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

The sending unit 1504 is configured to send the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message to the basestation. In this case, the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message further carries the keyinformation of the benefitted UE, and the key information of thesupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

For the server provided in this embodiment of the present invention,after the server receives a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message sent by a base station,when self benefitted capability information of a benefitted UE indicatesthat the only friend UE is allowed to provide support, the serveracquires a friend UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UEaccording to a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, anddetermines a first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE in afirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE according tothe friend UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE. Theserver acquires self supporting capability information of friendsupporting UE of the benefitted UE according to short-distanceidentifier information of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE,determines, according to the acquired self supporting capabilityinformation of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE, asupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in thefirst friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE, and sends amultiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carrying the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE to the base station. In this way, when theself benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE indicatesthat only friend UE is allowed to provide support, the server maydetermine the first friend supporting UE list that only recordsshort-distance identifier information of friend UE of the benefitted UE,determine, according to self supporting capability information of the UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the first friend supporting UE list, the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in the first friendsupporting UE list according to self supporting capability informationof the supporting UE, and sends the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list to the base station, so that the base station sends apairing request message to supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, so as to establisha communication link between the benefitted UE and friend supporting UEof the benefitted UE; therefore, while transmission of data between thesupporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented, security of datatransmission of UE is improved and user experience of the UE isimproved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides benefitted UE. As shownin FIG. 18, the benefited UE includes the following.

A sending unit 1701 is configured to send a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message to a basestation.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

A receiving unit 1702 is configured to receive a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message sent by thebase station.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message carries a short-distance identifier of UE that sends apairing response message to the base station. That is, the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response messagecarries a short-distance identifier of supporting UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 19, the benefitted UE further includes anacquiring unit 1703, configured to acquire an information report of thebenefited UE.

The information report of the benefitted UE carries a firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, and self capability information of thebenefitted UE. The first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE is used to record short-distance identifier information ofUE that provides a service to the benefitted UE. The self capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE includes the self supporting capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE and self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE. The self supporting capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whether thebenefitted UE supports only friend UE. The self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whether only friendUE provides support to the benefitted UE. The friend UE of thebenefitted UE refers to UE related to the benefitted UE.

In this case, the sending unit 1701 is further configured to send theinformation report of the benefitted UE to the base station.

For the benefitted UE provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, the benefitted UE sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message to a base station, so thatafter receiving the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message sent by the benefitted UE, the basestation sends a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message to a first server, receives a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication response messagethat is sent by the first server and that carries a supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, and sends a pairingrequest message to UE corresponding to the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE; and if the basestation receives a pairing establishment response message sent by UEcorresponding to the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, the base station sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message to thebenefitted UE, and the benefitted UE receives the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message sentby the base station. In this way, in a process of establishingcooperative communication, after receiving the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message sent by thebenefitted UE, the base station may send the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message to the firstserver, so that the first server acquires a supporting UE short-distancelist of the benefitted UE according to self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE and self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE, and therefore sends a pairing requestto UE corresponding to short-distance identifier information recorded inthe supporting UE short-distance list of the benefitted UE, so as toestablish a communication link to the benefitted UE, that is, friend UEof the benefitted UE may provide support to the benefitted UE, and/or,the supporting UE provides support to friend UE of the supporting UE, sothat while transmission of data between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE is implemented, security of data transmission of UE can beimproved and user experience of the UE can be improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides supporting UE. As shownin FIG. 20, the supporting UE includes the following.

A receiving unit 1901 is configured to receive a pairing request messageof a base station.

The pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier of abenefitted UE.

Furthermore, the pairing request message further carries key informationof the benefitted UE.

A processing unit 1902 is configured to perform pairing processing withthe benefitted UE according to the pairing request message received bythe receiving unit 1901.

When the pairing request message carries the key information of thebenefitted UE, the processing unit 1902 is configured to perform pairingprocessing with the benefitted UE according to the key information ofthe benefitted UE.

A sending unit 1903 is configured to send a pairing response message tothe base station.

The pairing response message carries a short-distance identifier of thesupporting UE. The short-distance identifier of the supporting UE mayuniquely identify the supporting UE.

The pairing response message includes: a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message.

Furthermore, the pairing response message further carries keyinformation of the supporting UE.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 21, the supporting UE further includes anacquiring unit 1904, configured to acquire an information report of thesupporting UE.

The information report of the supporting UE carries a firstshort-distance identifier list of the supporting UE, the short-distanceidentifier of the supporting UE, and status information of thesupporting UE. The first short-distance identifier list of thesupporting UE is used to record short-distance identifier information ofUE that provides a service to the supporting UE. Self capabilityinformation of the supporting UE includes self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE and self benefitted capabilityinformation of the supporting UE. The self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE is used to indicate whether thesupporting UE supports only friend UE. The self benefitted capabilityinformation of the supporting UE is used to indicate whether only friendUE provides support to the supporting UE. The friend UE of thesupporting UE refers to UE related to the supporting UE.

The sending unit 1903 is further configured to send the informationreport of the supporting UE to the base station.

For the supporting UE provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, after receiving a pairing request message, the supporting UEmay perform pairing processing with benefitted UE according to thepairing request message, and send a pairing response message to a basestation according to a pairing result. In this way, in a process ofestablishing cooperative communication, after receiving a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request message sentby the benefitted UE, the base station may send a multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication request message to afirst server, so that the first server acquires a supporting UEshort-distance list of the benefitted UE according to self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE and self supportingcapability information of the supporting UE, and therefore the pairingrequest message is sent to UE corresponding to short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance list of thebenefitted UE, that is, a pairing request message is sent to thesupporting UE, and the supporting UE performs pairing processingaccording to the pairing request message, so as to establish acommunication link to the benefitted UE, that is, friend UE of thebenefitted UE may provide support to the benefitted UE, and/or, thesupporting UE provides support to friend UE of the supporting UE, sothat while transmission of data between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE is implemented, security of data transmission of UE can beimproved and user experience of the UE can be improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides supporting UE. As shownin FIG. 22, the supporting UE includes: a sender 2201, a receiver 2202,a memory 2203, and a processor 2204 separately connected to the sender2201, the receiver 2202, and the memory 2203.

The memory 2203 stores a group of program code, and the processor 2204is configured to invoke the program code in the memory 2203.

The receiver 2202 is configured to receive a pairing request messagesent by a network side.

The pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier ofbenefitted UE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE mayuniquely identify the benefitted UE.

The processor 2204 is configured to: when self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE indicates that the supporting UEsupports only friend UE, acquire a friend UE short-distance identifierlist.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that is served by thesupporting UE and that is related to the supporting UE. The selfsupporting capability information of the supporting UE is informationused to indicate whether the supporting UE supports only friend UE. Thefriend UE of the supporting UE refers to UE related to the supportingUE.

The processor 2204 is configured to send a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list request message to a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication mobile broadband control server MUCC MBB Control Server,and receive a friend UE short-distance identifier list response messagesent by the MUCC MBB Control Server. The friend UE short-distanceidentifier list response message carries the friend UE short-distanceidentifier list.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list request message carries ashort-distance identifier of the supporting UE.

The processor 2204 is further configured to perform identityauthentication on the benefitted UE according to the acquired friend UEshort-distance identifier list and the short-distance identifier,carried in the pairing request message received by the receiver 2202, ofthe benefitted UE.

The processor 2204 is further configured to: when the benefitted UE hasbeen authenticated, perform pairing processing with the benefitted UE.

The sender 2201 is configured to send a pairing response message to thenetwork side.

The pairing response message includes: a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message.

Furthermore, the sender 2201 is further configured to: when thebenefitted UE has not been authenticated by the processor 2204, send thepairing failure response message to the network side.

The processor 2204 is further configured to determine whether thesupporting UE provides a supporting service.

The processor 2204 is configured to: in a case in which it is determinedthat the supporting UE provides a supporting service, when the selfsupporting capability information of the supporting UE indicates thatthe supporting UE supports only friend UE, acquire the friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the supporting UE.

Furthermore, the sender 2201 is further configured to: in a case inwhich the processor 2204 determines that the supporting UE does notprovide a supporting service, send the pairing failure response messageto the network side.

Furthermore, the processor 2204 is further configured to: when the selfsupporting capability information of the supporting UE indicates thatthe supporting UE supports all UEs, perform pairing processing with thebenefitted UE.

For the supporting UE provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, after receiving a pairing request message, when selfsupporting capability information of the supporting UE indicates thatthe supporting UE supports only friend UE, the supporting UE acquires afriend UE short-distance identifier list, and performs identityauthentication on the benefitted UE according to a short-distanceidentifier of benefitted UE carried in the pairing request message andthe friend UE short-distance identifier list, and in a case in which thebenefitted UE has been authenticated, send a pairing establishmentresponse message to a network side, so as to establish a communicationlink between the supporting UE and the benefitted UE. In this way, in aprocess of establishing cooperative communication, when the selfsupporting capability information of the supporting UE indicates thatthe supporting UE supports only friend UE, the supporting UE may performidentity authentication on the benefitted UE requesting to establish acommunication link, and a communication link can be established betweenthe supporting UE and only the benefitted UE that has beenauthenticated. Because the supporting UE performs identityauthentication on the benefitted UE, a communication link can beestablished between the supporting UE and only the benefitted UE relatedto the supporting UE, so that transmission of data between thesupporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented, thereby improvingsecurity of data transmission of UE and improving user experience of theUE.

An embodiment of the present invention provides benefitted UE. As shownin FIG. 23, the benefitted UE includes: a sender 2301, a receiver 2302,a memory 2303, and a processor 2304 separately connected to the sender2301, the receiver 2302, and the memory 2303.

The memory 2303 stores a group of program code, and the processor 2304is configured to invoke the program code in the memory 2303.

The processor 2304 is configured to acquire a first short-distanceidentifier list.

The first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of UE that provides aservice to the benefitted UE.

The processor 2304 is further configured to: when self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE indicates that thebenefitted UE allows only friend UE to provide support, acquire a friendUE short-distance identifier list.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE related to the benefittedUE. The self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE isused to indicate whether only friend UE provides support to thebenefitted UE. The friend UE of the benefitted UE refers to UE relatedto the benefitted UE.

Furthermore, the processor 2304 may acquire the friend UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE from an MUCC MBB Control Server. Inthis case, the processor 2304 is configured to send a friend UEshort-distance identifier list request message to the MUCC MBB ControlServer, and receive a friend UE short-distance identifier list responsemessage sent by the MUCC MBB Control Server.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list request message carries ashort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The friend UEshort-distance identifier list response message carries the friend UEshort-distance identifier list.

It should be noted that, in the MUCC MBB Control Server, ashort-distance identifier of UE and a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list corresponding to the UE are prestored. That is, in theMUCC MBB Control Server, a mapping relationship between theshort-distance identifier of the UE and a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list of the UE is stored.

The processor 2304 is further configured to determine a first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the acquired friend UEshort-distance identifier list.

The first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UE ofthe benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE is short-distance identifier information that is inthe first short-distance identifier list and that is the same as theshort-distance identifier information recorded in the friend UEshort-distance identifier list.

The sender 2301 is configured to send a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message carrying firstinformation to a network side.

The first information includes the first friend supporting UE list ofthe benefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

The receiver 2302 is configured to receive a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message sent by thenetwork side.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

When the multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message is the establishment success response message, themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment responsemessage carries a short-distance identifier of supporting UE that sendsa pairing establishment response message.

Furthermore, the sender 2301 is further configured to: when the selfbenefitted capability information of the benefitted UE indicates thatthe benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support, send a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarrying second information to the network side.

The second information includes the first short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE.

Furthermore, the short-distance identifier information of the UE isfurther used to identify whether the UE provides a supporting service.In this case:

The processor 2304 is further configured to determine, in the firstshort-distance identifier list according to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information recorded in the acquired first short-distanceidentifier list, short-distance identifier information identifying thata supporting service is provided.

The processor 2304 is configured to determine the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE according to the friend UEshort-distance identifier list and the short-distance identifierinformation, in which a supporting service is provided, in the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

For the benefitted UE provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, after the benefitted UE acquires a first short-distanceidentifier list, when the self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE toprovide support, the benefitted UE acquires a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list, determines a first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE in the first short-distance identifier list according tothe friend UE short-distance identifier list, and sends a first multipleuser equipment cooperative communication establishment request messagecarrying first information to a network side, where the firstinformation includes the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. Inthis way, in a process of establishing cooperative communication, whenthe self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the benefitted UE allows only friend UE to providesupport, the benefitted UE determines, in the first short-distanceidentifier list, friend UE that can provide support to the benefittedUE, that is, acquires the first friend supporting UE list, and sendsthis list to the network side, so that the network side establishes acommunication link between friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE andthe benefitted UE, so as to implement transmission of data betweensupporting UE and the benefitted UE, thereby improving security of datatransmission of UE and improving user experience of the UE.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 24, theapparatus includes: a sender 2401 and a receiver 2402.

The receiver 2402 is configured to receive a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message sent bybenefitted UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries first information or second information. Thefirst information includes a first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. Thesecond information includes a first short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

The sender 2401 is configured to: when the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message carries thefirst information, send, according to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information in the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE, a pairing request message to friend supporting UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier information inthe first friend supporting UE list of the benefited UE. When themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment requestmessage carries the second information, send, according to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, the pairing request message tosupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

The pairing request message carries the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE.

The receiver 2402 is further configured to receive a pairing responsemessage sent by supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE or a first short-distance list.

The pairing response message includes: a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message.

A multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

Furthermore, when the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message is the establishment success responsemessage, and the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message carries a short-distance identifier ofsupporting UE that sends the pairing establishment response message.

The sender 2401 is further configured to send the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message tothe benefitted UE.

For the apparatus for establishing cooperative communication provided inthis embodiment of the present invention, after the apparatus forestablishing cooperative communication receives a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request message sentby benefitted UE, when the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries first information,according to each piece of short-distance identifier information in afirst friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE, a pairing requestmessage is sent to friend supporting UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in the first friend supporting UElist, so that corresponding UE in the first friend supporting UE listdetermines whether to provide support to this benefitted UE. When themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment requestmessage carries second information, according to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information in a first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, the pairing request message issent to supporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information in the first short-distance, so that supportingUE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationin the first short-distance identifier list determines whether toprovide support to this benefitted UE. The apparatus for establishingcooperative communication receives a pairing response message sent bythe first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE or supportingUE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationin the first short-distance identifier list, and sends a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message tothe benefited UE. In this way, in a process of establishing cooperativecommunication, the benefitted UE may implement that support is onlyprovided to friend UE of the benefitted UE, and therefore acommunication link is established between the friend UE of thebenefitted UE and the benefitted UE, and/or supporting UE may implementthat the supporting UE only provides support to friend UE of thesupporting UE, and therefore a communication link is established betweenthe friend UE of the supporting UE and the supporting UE, so that whentransmission of data between the supporting UE and the benefitted UE isimplemented, security of data transmission of UE is improved and userexperience of the UE is improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a base station. As shownin FIG. 25, the base station includes: a sender 2501, a receiver 2502, amemory 2503, and a processor 2504 separately connected to the sender2501, the receiver 2502, and the memory 2503.

The memory 2503 stores a group of program code, and the processor 2504is configured to invoke the program code in the memory 2503.

The receiver 2502 is configured to receive a first multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request message sentby benefitted UE.

The first multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message carries a short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE mayuniquely identify the benefitted UE.

The sender 2501 is configured to send a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message to a firstserver.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message carries a first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, self benefitted capability information of the benefittedUE, and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that provides a service tothe benefitted UE. The self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE is information used to indicate whether only friend UEprovides support to the benefitted UE.

It should be noted that the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefited UE and the self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE are acquired by the base station in advance.

The receiver 2502 is further configured to receive a multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication response message sentby the first server.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries a supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE. The supporting UE short-distance identifier listis used to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the first server and that provides a service to thebenefitted UE.

Furthermore, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message further carries key information ofsupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE, and key information of the benefitted UE.

The sender 2501 is further configured to send a pairing request messageto first supporting UE according to the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list.

The first supporting UE is UE corresponding to each piece ofshort-distance identifier information recorded in the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list, and the pairing request message carriesthe short-distance identifier of the benefited UE, so that the firstsupporting UE determines, according to the short-distance identifier ofthe benefited UE, whether the first supporting UE performs pairing withthe benefitted UE.

Furthermore, the pairing request message further carries the keyinformation of the benefitted UE.

The receiver 2502 is further configured to receive a pairing responsemessage sent by the first supporting UE.

The pairing response message carries a short-distance identifier of thefirst supporting UE, that is, carries a short-distance identifier of UEthat sends the pairing response message to the base station.

Furthermore, the pairing response message includes: a pairingestablishment response message or a pairing failure response message.

Furthermore, the pairing response message further carries UE that sendsthe pairing response message to the base station, that is, keyinformation of the first supporting UE.

The sender 2501 is further configured to send, according to the pairingresponse message received by the receiver 2502, a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message tothe benefited UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message carries the short-distance identifier of the firstsupporting UE, that is, a short-distance identifier of UE that sends thepairing response message to the base station.

Further, the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment response message includes: an establishment successresponse message or an establishment failure response message.

The processor 2504 is configured to acquire an information report of UE.

The information report of the UE carries a first short-distanceidentifier list of the UE, the short-distance identifier of the UE, andself capability information of the UE. The self capability informationof the UE includes self supporting capability information of the UE andself benefitted capability information of the UE. The self supportingcapability information of the UE is used to indicate whether the UEsupports only friend UE. The self benefitted capability information ofthe UE is used to indicate whether only friend UE provides support tothe UE. The UE is UE that performs communication with the base station,and includes: the benefitted UE and the first supporting UE.

The processor 2504 is further configured to acquire link qualityinformation between UE served by the base station and the base station.

The processor 2504 is further configured to update the firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE according to theacquired link quality information.

The processor 2504 is configured to determine, according to the acquiredlink quality information in UEs served by the base station, UE whoselink with the base station has quality that is less than a firstthreshold value; delete, from the first short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE, short-distance identifier information of thedetermined UE whose link with the base station has the quality that isless than the first threshold value; and update the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE.

It should be noted that the first threshold value is preset.

The sender 2501 is configured to send, to the first server, a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication request messagethat carries the first short-distance identifier list, of the benefittedUE, updated the processor 2504, the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE, and the self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE.

For the base station provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, after receiving a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by benefitted UE, thebase station sends a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message to a first server, receives a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication response messagethat is sent by the first server and that carries a supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, and sends a pairingrequest message to first supporting UE according to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE; and if the basestation receives a pairing establishment response message sent by thefirst supporting UE, the base station sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message to thebenefitted UE. In this way, in a process of establishing cooperativecommunication, after receiving the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message sent by the benefitted UE,the base station may send the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message to the first server, sothat the first server acquires a supporting UE short-distance list ofthe benefitted UE, and therefore sends a pairing request to the firstsupporting UE, so as to establish a communication link between the firstsupporting UE and the benefitted UE, that is, friend UE of thebenefitted UE may provide support to the benefitted UE, and/or,supporting UE provides support to friend UE of the supporting UE, sothat while transmission of data between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE is implemented, security of data transmission of UE can beimproved and user experience of the UE can be improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a server. As shown inFIG. 26, the server includes: a sender 2601, a receiver 2602, a memory2603, and a processor 2604 separately connected to the sender 2601, thereceiver 2602, and the memory 2603.

The memory 2603 stores a group of program code, and the processor 2604is configured to invoke the program code in the memory 2603.

The receiver 2602 is configured to receive a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message sent by a basestation.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationrequest message carries a first short-distance identifier list of abenefitted UE, self benefitted capability information of the benefittedUE, and a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE. The firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is used to recordshort-distance identifier information of UE that provides support to thebenefitted UE. The self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE is used to indicate whether only friend UE providessupport to the benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE may uniquely identify the benefitted UE.

The processor 2604 is configured to: when the self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE indicates that the benefitted UE allowsonly friend UE to provide support, acquire a friend UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE.

The friend UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE related tothe benefitted UE.

The processor 2604 is further configured to determine a first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE in the first short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the acquired friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefited UE.

The first friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE is used torecord short-distance identifier information of friend supporting UE ofthe benefitted UE. The short-distance identifier information of thefriend supporting UE of the benefitted UE is short-distance identifierinformation that is in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and that is the same as the short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the friend UE short-distance identifier list ofthe benefitted UE.

The processor 2604 is further configured to acquire, according to thedetermined short-distance identifier information of the friendsupporting UE of the benefitted UE, self supporting capabilityinformation of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE.

The self supporting capability information of the friend supporting UEis used to indicate whether the friend supporting UE supports onlyfriend UE.

The processor 2604 is further configured to determine a supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in the first friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE according to the acquired selfsupporting capability information of the friend supporting UE of thebenefitted UE.

The supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE isused to record short-distance identifier information of UE that isdetermined by the server and that provides a supporting service to thebenefitted UE.

According to different acquired self supporting capability informationof the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE, a method by usingwhich the processor 2604 determines the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE in the first friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE is different, and is as follows.

The processor 2604 is configured to: when the acquired self supportingcapability information of the friend supporting UE indicates that thefriend supporting UE supports only friend UE, acquire a friend UEshort-distance identifier list of the friend supporting UE according tothe short-distance identifier information of the friend supporting UE;perform identity authentication on the benefitted UE according to thefriend UE short-distance identifier list of the friend supporting UE andthe short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE; and when it isdetermined that the benefitted UE has been authenticated, record ashort-distance identifier of the friend supporting UE to the supportingUE short-distance identifier list of the benefited UE.

Alternatively, the processor 2604 is configured to: when the acquiredself supporting capability information of the friend supporting UEindicates that the friend supporting UE supports all UEs, record ashort-distance identifier of the friend supporting UE to the supportingUE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

The sender 2601 is configured to send a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message to the basestation.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication authenticationresponse message carries the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE.

Furthermore, the processor 2604 is further configured to: when the selfbenefitted capability information of the benefitted UE indicates thatthe benefitted UE allows any UE to provide support, acquire selfsupporting capability information of the first UE.

The first UE is a UE corresponding to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information recorded in the first short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE.

In this case, the processor 2604 is further configured to determine thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE according tothe acquired self supporting capability information of the first UE.

According to different acquired self supporting capability informationof the UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, a method by using which the processor 2604 determines thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in thefirst short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE is different,and is as follows.

The processor 2604 is configured to: when the acquired self supportingcapability information of the first UE indicates that the first UEsupports only friend UE, acquire a friend UE short-distance identifierlist of the first UE according to the first short-distance identifierinformation of the first UE; perform identity authentication on thebenefitted UE according to the friend UE short-distance identifier listof the first UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE;and when it is determined that the benefitted UE has been authenticated,record a short-distance identifier of the first UE to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.

Alternatively, the processor 2604 is configured to: when the acquiredself supporting capability information of the first UE indicates thatthe first UE supports all UEs, record the short-distance identifier ofthe first UE to the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

Furthermore, the short-distance identifier information of the UE isfurther used to identify whether the UE provides a supporting service.

In this case, the processor 2604 is further configured to determine, inthe supporting UE short-distance identifier list of the UE according toeach piece of short-distance identifier information recorded in thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE,short-distance identifier information identifying that a supportingservice is provided.

The processor 2604 is further configured to update the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the UE according to the determinedshort-distance identifier information identifying that a supportingservice is provided.

The sender 2601 is configured to send the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message to the basestation. In this case, the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message carries the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list, of the UE, updated by the processor2604.

Furthermore, the processor 2604 is further configured to acquire keyinformation of the benefitted UE and key information of supporting UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

The sender 2601 is configured to send the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication response message to the basestation. In this case, the multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication response message further carries the keyinformation of the benefitted UE, and the key information of thesupporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distance identifierinformation in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE.

For the server provided in this embodiment of the present invention,after the server receives a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication authentication request message sent by a base station,when self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that the only friend UE is allowed to provide support, theserver acquires a friend UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE, and determines a first friend supporting UE list of the benefittedUE in a first short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UEaccording to the friend UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE. The server acquires self supporting capabilityinformation of friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE according toshort-distance identifier information of the friend supporting UE of thebenefitted UE, determines a supporting UE short-distance identifier listof the benefitted UE in the first friend supporting UE list of thebenefitted UE according to the acquired self supporting capabilityinformation of the friend supporting UE of the benefitted UE, and sends,to the base station, a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication response message carrying the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE. In this way, whenthe self benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicates that only friend UE is allowed to provide support, the servermay determine the first friend supporting UE list that only recordsshort-distance identifier information of friend UE of the benefitted UE,determine, according to self supporting capability information of the UEcorresponding to each piece of short-distance identifier informationrecorded in the first friend supporting UE list, the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE in the first friendsupporting UE according to self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE, and send the supporting UE short-distance identifier listto the base station, so that the base station sends a pairing requestmessage to supporting UE corresponding to each piece of short-distanceidentifier information recorded in the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, so as to establish a communicationlink between the benefitted UE and friend supporting UE of thebenefitted UE; therefore, while transmission of data between thesupporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented, security of datatransmission of UE is improved and user experience of the UE isimproved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides benefitted UE. As shownin FIG. 27, the benefitted UE includes: a sender 2701, a receiver 2702,a memory 2703, and a processor 2704 separately connected to the sender2701, the receiver 2702, and the memory 2703.

The memory 2703 stores a group of program code, and the processor 2704is configured to invoke the program code in the memory 2703.

The sender 2701 is configured to send a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message to a basestation.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentrequest message carries a short-distance identifier of the benefittedUE. The short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE may uniquelyidentify the benefitted UE.

The receiver 2702 is configured to receive a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message sent by thebase station.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message carries a short-distance identifier of UE that sends apairing response message to the base station. That is, the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response messagecarries a short-distance identifier of supporting UE.

The multiple user equipment cooperative communication establishmentresponse message includes: an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.

Furthermore, the processor 2704 is configured to acquire an informationreport of the benefitted UE.

The information report of the benefitted UE carries a firstshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, and self capability information of thebenefitted UE. The first short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE is used to record short-distance identifier information ofUE that provides a service to the benefitted UE. The self capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE includes the self supporting capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE and self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE. The self supporting capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whether thebenefitted UE supports only friend UE. The self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE is used to indicate whether only friendUE provides support to the benefitted UE. Friend UE of the benefitted UErefers to UE related to the benefitted UE.

In this case, the sender 2701 is further configured to send theinformation report of the benefitted UE to the base station.

For the benefitted UE provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, the benefitted UE sends a multiple user equipment cooperativecommunication establishment request message to a base station, so thatafter receiving the multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message sent by the benefitted UE, the basestation sends a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationauthentication request message to a first server, receives a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication response messagethat is sent by the first server and that carries a supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, and sends a pairingrequest message to UE corresponding to the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE; and if the basestation receives a pairing establishment response message sent by UEcorresponding to the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, the base station sends a multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment response message to thebenefitted UE, and the benefitted UE receives the multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message sentby the base station. In this way, in a process of establishingcooperative communication, after receiving the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication establishment request message sent by thebenefitted UE, the base station may send the multiple user equipmentcooperative communication authentication request message to the firstserver, so that the first server acquires a supporting UE short-distancelist of the benefitted UE according to self benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE and self supporting capabilityinformation of supporting UE, and therefore sends a pairing request toUE corresponding to short-distance identifier information recorded inthe supporting UE short-distance list of the benefitted UE, so as toestablish a communication link to the benefitted UE, that is, friend UEof the benefitted UE may provide support to the benefitted UE, and/or,the supporting UE provides support to friend UE of the supporting UE, sothat while transmission of data between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE is implemented, security of data transmission of UE can beimproved and user experience of the UE can be improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides supporting UE. As shownin FIG. 28, the supporting UE includes: a sender 2801, a receiver 2802,a memory 2803, and a processor 2804 separately connected to the sender2801, the receiver 2802, and the memory 2803.

The memory 2803 stores a group of program code, and the processor 2804is configured to invoke the program code in the memory 2803.

The receiver 2802 is configured to receive a pairing request message ofa base station.

The pairing request message carries a short-distance identifier of abenefitted UE.

Furthermore, the pairing request message further carries key informationof the benefitted UE.

The processor 2804 is configured to perform pairing processing with thebenefitted UE according to the pairing request message received by thereceiver 2802.

When the pairing request message carries the key information of thebenefitted UE, the processor 2804 is configured to perform pairingprocessing with the benefitted UE according to the key information ofthe benefitted UE.

The sender 2801 is configured to send a pairing response message to thebase station.

The pairing response message carries a short-distance identifier of thesupporting UE. The short-distance identifier of the supporting UE mayuniquely identify the supporting UE.

The pairing response message includes: a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message.

Furthermore, the pairing response message further carries keyinformation of the supporting UE.

Furthermore, the processor 2804 is further configured to acquire aninformation report of the supporting UE.

The information report of the supporting UE carries a firstshort-distance identifier list of the supporting UE, the short-distanceidentifier of the supporting UE, and status information of thesupporting UE. The first short-distance identifier list of thesupporting UE is used to record short-distance identifier information ofUE that provides a service to the supporting UE. Self capabilityinformation of the supporting UE includes self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE and self benefitted capabilityinformation of the supporting UE. The self supporting capabilityinformation of the supporting UE is used to indicate whether thesupporting UE supports only friend UE. The self benefitted capabilityinformation of the supporting UE is used to indicate whether only friendUE provides support to the supporting UE. The friend UE of thesupporting UE refers to UE related to the supporting UE.

The sender 2801 is further configured to send the information report ofthe supporting UE to the base station.

For the supporting UE provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, after receiving a pairing request message, the supporting UEmay perform pairing processing with benefitted UE according to thepairing request message, and send a pairing response message to a basestation according to a pairing result. In this way, in a process ofestablishing cooperative communication, after receiving a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment request message sentby the benefitted UE, the base station may send a multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication request message to afirst server, so that the first server acquires a supporting UEshort-distance list of the benefitted UE according to self benefittedcapability information of the benefitted UE and self supportingcapability information of the supporting UE; therefore, the pairingrequest message is sent to UE corresponding to short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance list of thebenefitted UE, that is, a pairing request message is sent to thesupporting UE, and the supporting UE performs pairing processingaccording to the pairing request message, so as to establish acommunication link to the benefitted UE, that is, friend UE of thebenefitted UE may provide support to the benefitted UE, and/or, thesupporting UE provides support to friend UE of the supporting UE, sothat while transmission of data between the supporting UE and thebenefitted UE is implemented, security of data transmission of UE can beimproved and user experience of the UE can be improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a system forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 29, the systemincludes: supporting UE 2901, benefitted UE 2902, and an apparatus forestablishing cooperative communication 2903.

The supporting UE 2901 is the supporting UE according to the foregoingembodiments.

The benefitted UE 2902 is the benefited UE according to the foregoingembodiments.

The apparatus for establishing cooperative communication 2903 is theapparatus for establishing cooperative communication 2903 according tothe foregoing embodiments.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a system forestablishing cooperative communication. As shown in FIG. 30, the systemincludes: supporting UE 3001, benefitted UE 3002, a base station 3003,and a first server 3004.

The base station 3003 is the base station according to the foregoingembodiments.

The first server 3004 is the server according to the foregoingembodiments.

The benefitted UE 3002 is the benefitted UE according to the foregoingembodiments.

The supporting UE 3001 is the supporting UE according to the foregoingembodiments.

For the method, apparatus, and system for establishing cooperativecommunication provided in the embodiments of the present invention,benefitted UE sends a multiple user equipment cooperative communicationestablishment request message to a base station, after receiving themultiple user equipment cooperative communication establishment requestmessage sent by the benefitted UE, the base station sends a multipleuser equipment cooperative communication authentication request messageto a first server, and the first server receives the multiple userequipment cooperative communication authentication request message,determines, according to self benefitted capability information of thebenefitted UE, supporting UE that provides support to the benefitted UE,determines a supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to self supporting capability information of thesupporting UE that provides support to the benefitted UE, and sends thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE to thebase station. After receiving the supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, the base station sends a pairingrequest message to first supporting UE according to the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE. The firstsupporting UE performs pairing processing with the benefitted UEaccording to the pairing request message, and sends a pairing responsemessage to the base station. The base station sends a multiple userequipment cooperative communication establishment response message tothe benefitted UE. In this way, in a process of establishing cooperativecommunication, the benefitted UE may implement that only friend UE ofthe benefitted UE provides support, and therefore a communication linkis established between the friend UE of the benefitted UE and thebenefitted UE, and/or the supporting UE may implement that thesupporting UE provides support to only friend UE of the supporting UE,and therefore a communication link is established between the friend UEof the supporting UE and the supporting UE, so that when transmission ofdata between the supporting UE and the benefitted UE is implemented,security of data transmission of UE is improved and user experience ofthe UE is improved.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should beunderstood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and method may beimplemented in other manners. For example, the described apparatusembodiment is merely exemplary. For example, the unit division is merelylogical function division and may be other division in actualimplementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may becombined or integrated into another system, or some features may beignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutualcouplings or direct couplings or communication connections may beimplemented through some interfaces. The indirect couplings orcommunication connections between the apparatuses or units may beimplemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units,may be located in one position, or may be distributed on a plurality ofnetwork units. Some or all of the units may be selected according toactual needs to achieve the objectives of the solutions of theembodiments.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the presentinvention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of theunits may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integratedinto one unit. The integrated unit may be implemented in a form ofhardware, or may be implemented in a form of hardware in addition to asoftware functional unit.

When the foregoing integrated unit is implemented in a form of asoftware functional unit, the integrated unit may be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium. The software functional unit is storedin a storage medium and includes several instructions for instructing acomputer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or anetwork device) to perform some of the steps of the methods described inthe embodiments of the present invention. The foregoing storage mediumincludes: any medium that can store program code, such as a USB flashdrive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random accessmemory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merelyintended for describing the technical solutions of the present inventionbut not for limiting the present invention. Although the presentinvention is described in detail with reference to the foregoingembodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand thatthey may still make modifications to the technical solutions describedin the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent replacements to sometechnical features thereof, without departing from the spirit and scopeof the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a network-sidedevice, a multiple user equipment (UE) cooperative communicationestablishment request message sent by a benefitted UE, wherein themultiple UE cooperative communication establishment request messagecarries first information or second information, the first informationcomprising a friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE and ashort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, and the secondinformation comprising a short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE and the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE,wherein the multiple UE cooperative communication establishment requestmessage carries the first information or the second informationaccording to self-benefitted capability information of the benefittedUE, the self-benefitted capability information of the benefitted UEindicating whether only friend UEs of the benefitted UE are permitted toprovide support to the benefitted UE; when the multiple UE cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries the firstinformation, sending, by the network-side device according to each itemof a first plurality of items of short-distance identifier informationin the friend supporting UE list of the benefitted UE, one or more firstpairing request messages, wherein a first pairing request message of theone or more first pairing request messages is sent to each friendsupporting UE corresponding to each item of the first plurality of itemsof short-distance identifier information in the friend supporting UElist of the benefitted UE, and wherein each first pairing requestmessage carries the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE; whenthe multiple UE cooperative communication establishment request messagecarries the second information, sending, by the network-side deviceaccording to each item of a second plurality of items of short-distanceidentifier information in the short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, one or more second pairing request messages, wherein asecond pairing request message of the one or more second pairing requestmessages is sent to each supporting UE corresponding to each item of thesecond plurality of items of short-distance identifier information inthe short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, and whereineach second pairing request message carries the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE; receiving, by the network-side device,a pairing response message sent by each supporting UE or each friendsupporting UE; and sending, by the network-side device, a multiple UEcooperative communication establishment response message to thebenefited UE based on the received pairing response messages.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein each of the one or more pairingresponse messages comprises a pairing establishment response message ora pairing failure response message, and wherein the multiple UEcooperative communication establishment response message comprises anestablishment success response message or an establishment failureresponse message.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein theshort-distance identifier is an identifier according to a short-rangecommunication technology.
 4. A method comprising: receiving, by a basestation, a multiple user equipment (UE) cooperative communicationestablishment request message sent by a benefitted UE, wherein themultiple UE cooperative communication establishment request messagecarries a short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE; sending, bythe base station, a multiple UE cooperative communication authenticationrequest message to a first server, wherein the multiple UE cooperativecommunication authentication request message carries a short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, self-benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE, and the short-distance identifier ofthe benefitted UE, wherein the short-distance identifier list of thebenefited UE records first short-distance identifier information of UEsthat provides a first service to the benefitted UE, and wherein theself-benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE indicateswhether only friend UEs of the benefitted UE are permitted to providesupport to the benefitted UE; receiving, by the base station, a multipleUE cooperative communication authentication response message sent by thefirst server, wherein the multiple UE cooperative communicationauthentication response message carries a supporting UE short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE, and the supporting UEshort-distance identifier list records second short-distance identifierinformation of UEs that are determined by the first server, according tothe self-benefitted capability information of the benefited UE, and thatprovide a second service to the benefitted UE; sending, by the basestation, one or more pairing request messages to one or more firstsupporting UEs according to the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist, wherein each first supporting UE corresponds to a respective itemof second short-distance identifier information recorded in thesupporting UE short-distance identifier list, and the one or morepairing request messages carry the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE, so that a respective first supporting UE determines,according to the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, whetherthe respective first supporting UE performs pairing with the benefittedUE; receiving, by the base station, a pairing response message sent byeach of the one or more first supporting UEs; and sending, by the basestation, a multiple UE cooperative communication establishment responsemessage to the benefitted UE based on the one or more pairing responsemessages.
 5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising, beforereceiving the multiple UE cooperative communication establishmentrequest message sent by the benefitted UE, acquiring, by the basestation, an information report of UEs, wherein the information report ofthe UEs carries the short-distance identifier list of the UEs, ashort-distance identifier of each UE, and self-capability information ofeach UE, wherein the self-capability information of each UE comprisesself-supporting capability information of the UE and self-benefittedcapability information of the UE, the self-supporting capabilityinformation of the UE indicates whether the UE supports only the friendUEs, the self-benefitted capability information of the UE indicateswhether only the friend UEs provide support to the UE, wherein each UEperforms communication with the base station, and the UEs in theinformation report of the UEs comprise the benefitted UE and the firstsupporting UEs.
 6. The method according to claim 4, further comprising,before sending the multiple UE cooperative communication authenticationrequest message to the first server, acquiring, by the base station,link quality information between the UEs served by the base station andthe base station and updating, by the base station, the short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE according to the link qualityinformation, and wherein sending, by the base station, the multiple UEcooperative communication authentication request message to the firstserver comprises sending, by the base station to the first server, themultiple UE cooperative communication authentication request messagecarrying the updated short-distance identifier list of the benefittedUE, the short-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, and theself-benefitted capability information of the benefited UE.
 7. Themethod according to claim 6, wherein updating, by the base station, theshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE according to thelink quality information comprises: determining, by the base stationaccording to the link quality information in the UEs served by the basestation, a second UE whose link with the base station has quality thatis less than a first threshold value; and deleting, from theshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, firstshort-distance identifier information of the second UE, and updating theshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 4, wherein the multiple UE cooperative communicationauthentication response message further carries key information of thebenefitted UE and key information of the first supporting UEscorresponding to each piece of first short-distance identifierinformation in the short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE,wherein the one or more pairing request messages further carry the keyinformation of the benefitted UE, and wherein the one or more pairingresponse messages further carry key information of a UE that sends arespective pairing response message to the base station.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 4, wherein each of the one or more pairing responsemessages comprises a pairing establishment response message or a pairingfailure response message, and wherein the multiple UE cooperativecommunication establishment response message comprises an establishmentsuccess response message or an establishment failure response message.10. An apparatus comprising: a receiver configured to receive a multipleuser equipment (UE) cooperative communication establishment requestmessage sent by a benefitted UE, wherein the multiple UE cooperativecommunication establishment request message carries first information orsecond information, the first information comprising a friend supportingUE list of the benefitted UE and a short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE, and the second information comprising a short-distanceidentifier list of the benefitted UE and the short-distance identifierof the benefitted UE, wherein the multiple UE cooperative communicationestablishment request message carries the first information or thesecond information according to self-benefitted capability informationof the benefitted UE, wherein the self-benefitted capability informationof the benefitted UE indicates whether only friend UEs of the benefittedUE are permitted to provide support to the benefitted UE; a senderconfigured to: when the multiple UE cooperative communicationestablishment request message carries the first information, send,according to each item of a first plurality of items of firstshort-distance identifier information in the friend supporting UE listof the benefitted UE, one or more first pairing request messages to eachfriend supporting UE corresponding to each item of the first pluralityof items of first short-distance identifier information in the friendsupporting UE list of the benefitted UE, wherein the one or more firstpairing request messages carry the short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE; and when the multiple UE cooperative communicationestablishment request message carries the second information, send,according to each item of a second plurality of items of secondshort-distance identifier information in the short-distance identifierlist of the benefitted UE, one or more second pairing request messagesto each supporting UE corresponding to each item of the second pluralityof items of second short-distance identifier information in theshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, wherein the one ormore second pairing request messages carry the short-distance identifierof the benefitted UE, wherein the receiver is further configured toreceive one or more pairing response messages sent by each supporting UEor each friend supporting UE, and wherein the sender is furtherconfigured to send a multiple UE cooperative communication establishmentresponse message to the benefitted UE based on the received pairingresponse messages.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein theone or more pairing response messages each comprise a pairingestablishment response message or a pairing failure response message,and wherein the multiple UE cooperative communication establishmentresponse message comprises an establishment success response message oran establishment failure response message.
 12. An apparatus comprising:a receiver configured to receive a multiple user equipment (UE)cooperative communication establishment request message sent by abenefitted UE, wherein the multiple UE cooperative communicationestablishment request message carries a short-distance identifier of thebenefitted UE; and a sender configured to send a multiple UE cooperativecommunication authentication request message to a first server, whereinthe multiple UE cooperative communication authentication request messagecarries a short-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE,self-benefitted capability information of the benefitted UE, and theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, wherein theshort-distance identifier list of the benefited UE records firstshort-distance identifier information of UEs that provide a firstservice to the benefitted UE, wherein the self-benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE is information that indicates whetheronly friend UEs of the benefitted UE are permitted to provide support tothe benefitted UE, wherein the receiver is further configured to receivea multiple UE cooperative communication authentication response messagesent by the first server, wherein the multiple UE cooperativecommunication authentication response message carries a supporting UEshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, and the supportingUE short-distance identifier list records second short-distanceidentifier information of UEs that are determined by the first server,according to the self-benefitted capability information of the benefitedUE, and that provide a second service to the benefitted UE, wherein thesender is further configured to send one or more pairing requestmessages to one or more first supporting UEs according to the supportingUE short-distance identifier list, wherein each first supporting UEcorresponds to a respective piece of second short-distance identifierinformation recorded in the supporting UE short-distance identifierlist, and the one or more pairing request messages each carry theshort-distance identifier of the benefitted UE, causing a respectivefirst supporting UE to determine, according to the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, whether the respective first supportingUE performs pairing with the benefitted UE, wherein the receiver is yetfurther configured to receive a pairing response messages sent by eachof the one or more first supporting UEs, and wherein the sender is yetfurther configured to send a multiple UE cooperative communicationestablishment response message to the benefitted UE according to the oneor more pairing response messages received by the receiver.
 13. Theapparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a processorconfigured to acquire an information report of UEs, wherein theinformation report of the UEs carries the short-distance identifier listof the UEs, a short-distance identifier of each UE, and self-capabilityinformation of each UE, the self-capability information of each UEcomprises self-supporting capability information of a corresponding UEand self-benefitted capability information of the corresponding UE, theself-supporting capability information of the corresponding UE indicateswhether the corresponding UE supports only friend UEs, theself-benefitted capability information of the corresponding UE indicateswhether only friend UE provide support to the corresponding UE, whereineach UE performs communication with the apparatus, and wherein the UEsidentified in the information report of the UEs comprise the benefittedUE and the first supporting UEs.
 14. The apparatus according to claim12, further comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configuredto acquire link quality information between UEs served by the apparatusand the apparatus, and update, the short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE according to the link quality information, and wherein thesender is further configured to send the multiple UE cooperativecommunication authentication request message carrying the updatedshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, the short-distanceidentifier of the benefitted UE, and the self-benefitted capabilityinformation of the benefitted UE, to the first server.
 15. The apparatusaccording to claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:determine, according to the link quality information in UEs served bythe apparatus, a second UE whose link with the apparatus has qualitythat is less than a first threshold value; and delete, from theshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE, firstshort-distance identifier information of the second UE, and update theshort-distance identifier list of the benefitted UE.
 16. The apparatusaccording to claim 12, wherein the multiple UE cooperative communicationauthentication response message further carries key information of thebenefitted UE and key information of each first supporting UEcorresponding to each piece of second short-distance identifierinformation in the supporting UE short-distance identifier list of thebenefitted UE, wherein the one or more pairing request messages furthercarry the key information of the benefitted UE, and wherein the one ormore pairing response messages further carries key information ofrespective UE that sends a pairing response message to the apparatus.17. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the one or more pairingresponse messages each comprises a pairing establishment responsemessage or a pairing failure response message, and wherein the multipleUE cooperative communication establishment response message comprises anestablishment success response message or an establishment failureresponse message.